Petrified
by ScarletDust
Summary: Kairi goes to a college in Japan and has a hard time getting around. A certain redhead meets her and now she's scarred for life. "Damn, those rape stories really were true," Kairi thought as he approached her, a cunning grin engraved on his face.
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter I _

I sighed at the sight of the university that I was going to attend. I had a small suitcase and my laptop bag leaning against my legs. It was like I was standing in a sea of strangers, no one I knew caught my gaze. Sighing again disappointedly, I hoisted my belongings over each shoulder and tried to interpret the schedule and papers I held in my hands.

Classes didn't start the next day, so that meant that I had today to get my things together in my dorm and take some time to just settle in. The thought of sleeping in a room with another stranger had me a little tense. You never knew what was ahead of you, and this was definitely one of those times.

Problem was, I couldn't figure out anything. I had no idea where the dormitories were. Standing like an idiot, I gazed around trying to make sense of what was out in front of me. I didn't even have a map, not that they really gave out any. The school wasn't that huge, but it was most definitely different than what I experienced back in Destiny Islands.

One thing I did notice, was that no one was wearing uniforms. I peered down at my blue plaid skirt and pressed white blouse. I stood out so badly. I grunted something under my breath about wishing I had a place to go to change into something more less embarrassing.

I was lonely too, that was another thing that had my mind bothered. Being alone wasn't exactly a hobby of mine. I hated it. After leaving Riku and Sora behind, I told myself that I had to open up to making some friends who were girls and have a larger social network no matter how much I missed them and wanted them standing next to me. I just wished that they could have made it into this school too, damn why did my grades have to be that good?

"Education is more important than friends, Kairi," my mother had told me before I boarded the train headed to Twilight Town. She may have been right, but I still thought that friends were just as important. Or even more.

I noticed a few girls in front of me. They looked like nice people so I decided to go up and talk to them, maybe get some help too about where I should go. Yes, that would have been just great if my feet could start walking. I firmly stood where I was, as if I was afraid of approaching them. They walked right past me and I missed a chance to get some insight about things and possibly make some friends.

Oh well...

I grumbled at my stupid mistake. They were out of sight by the time I mustered any shred of courage left in my heart. You know what, hell with it. I was just going to walk around and see where it took me.

---xxx---

My room number was 'A19' so I scanned the door numbers as I walked down the long hallway for the right room. The walls were a nice shade of blue, very homey and relaxing. My footsteps bounced off the walls, echoing in the vacant place. After long hours of walking and searching, I finally found the dormitory rooms. They were the buildings far behind from the school. Go figure.

I stopped walking and halted in front of the door with the number 'A19' engraved on it with a golden plate. Finally, I could just sit and relax and not worry about anything. I fumbled for my keys in my pocket and swung them in the air when I found them. Inserting the key into the keyhole, I turned it and twisted the doorknob.

My heart fell. The door was still locked. But that couldn't be right because I had the key and the number was the right one because the papers said so themselves. Grunting, I dropped my bags onto the floor and tried unlocking the door once again. Without any luck the second or fifth time though. Damn.

Perhaps someone was in there like my roommate. I knocked lightly on the door hoping that someone would open up. To my bitter discouragement, no one came. It was already late in the afternoon and I was so hungry. I wanted to get something to eat, not that I would know where to go, but I wanted to put my things away for safe keeping.

This wasn't fair. Why me? I had to be locked out with no one inside to open it for me. Let me just try one more time, I thought to myself. I inserted the key like I was supposed to then twisted to door knob right and left, but it still wouldn't open.

I knocked again, still no answer. This got me wondering if I had a roommate in the first place. I edged closer to the door and squinted my eyes to see through the peek hole. It was pointless because I didn't see anything.

"Would you like some help?" asked an unfamiliar voice from behind me.

I turned around and refrained from showing any signs of shock on my face. The man I saw standing, no wait that would be incorrect to say…the man I saw slouching had his big black eyes bulging at me. Dark rims traced the bottom of this eyes. His hands were placed in the pockets of his blue jeans. Strands of his black hair covered his eyes partially.

I took a step backwards in surprise. My gaze continued to linger at his odd features. As I was doing so, he raised his right hand to his mouth, placing his thumb against the edge of his lips and waited for me to speak.

"Um…" was all I managed to say.

"Allow me," he said in a very monotone voice. With his free hand, the one not lingering by his lips, pulled out an identical pair of keys like mine and opened the door to the room without any trouble.

He pushed the door open, revealing a dark room. He was about to walk forward when he stumbled upon my laptop bag. He looked at it, then bend down to hoist it over his shoulder. I tried hard not to snatch it away from him, I didn't like it when people touched my things. However, my mouth was too dry and dumbfounded to say a thing so I let him carry it into the room.

I followed behind him when I strolled my small suitcase behind me. My hand felt the wall for a switch, and when I touched something, I flicked it, illuminating the entire room. I saw the mysterious man place my laptop carefully upon one of the two bunk beds.

He leisurely walked over to a small refrigerator, then opened it and peered within. He closed it after obtaining a small jar that appeared to be strawberry jam. He sat in a chair that was placed in the corner by the draped windows. I stupidly stared at him, not knowing what to say or react.

He popped the lid off the jar and with his bare hands, he ate from the jar. It struck me funny because with each handful of strawberry jam that he gulped down made me think of Whinny the Pooh Bear, except Pooh looked much cuter doing this childish act.

I continued to stand in front of him like a weirdo. After a moment, he looked intently at me and asked me randomly, "How long have you've been here?"

"Today's my first day," I muttered, not understanding where he was getting at.

"I see…so you know no one here and no one here knows you?" His pink tongue slide around the lid of the jar, cleaning it from any strawberry jam. I tried hard not to wince at the weird sight before me. It all looked so unnatural.

"That's correct," I said as I twisted my fingers from nervousness. Who was this guy? Why was he here? I had to ask something in return. "Are you my roommate?"

He let out a small laugh, or sort of. "No, absolutely not."

So get out?! I wanted to usher him away, but he asked me another random question. Besides, guys aren't supposed to be in the girl's dorms...right??

"Have you seen a tall teenage boy with brown hair and a…charming face?"

What in the…

"Um…no?" I didn't know anyone by that description. In fact, there could be tons of tall boys with brown hair and charming faces in this place.

"I thought so…why did I bother asking," he said to himself more than to me. "Well, I must go now."

Getting up from the bed, he trudged passed me and out the door without saying a proper goodbye. He even shut the door loudly behind himself. Ok, yeah, that was awkward. We didn't even exchange names and he was in and out just like that.

I laid my bag against the side of a wall and decided to take a quick shower to lighten up. The bathroom was surprisingly clean, not like I had expected it. Everything was white and sparkling. Taking my clothes off, I let the water run from the shower for a few minutes then got in. The warm water washed over me, relaxing my tired body.

When I was done, I wrapped myself around a towel that was folded on a rack. Crap, I thought to myself, I left my stuff outside. I wanted to wear something more suitable for the weather and besides I needed my body mist spray.

I opened the bathroom door and stepped out from the steaming room. Invisible fog crept out from the room as I headed towards my suitcase.

It was right where I had left it, against the wall beside the entrance door. I gingerly walked over to it, unzipping the suitcase carefully. I kneeled down on my knees to get a better look at what I could wear. The hand that was holding onto the top of the tower let go as I moved some shirts and whatnot around to get something that I liked. My towel drooped down a tad, but I didn't mind. No one was watching anyhow. It was just me, the freak in here earlier had left.

A creamy pink blouse caught my attention, along with a dark blue pair of jeans. Pulling them out from the neatly folded stack of clothes, I held them carefully so that they wouldn't get wrinkled. I stood up, holding my towel securely again.

What was the point in going back to the bathroom to change when I was fine where I was? No one was here, just me so I decided to take my towel off and dry myself then and there. A cold draft rushed over my bare body, it felt cool and relaxing. I shivered a little, but it didn't bug me. I looked around to see where the draft came from and I saw that there was an open window. That struck me odd because that window wasn't open when I came in, the freak boy didn't open it…so that meant…someone was in here, in the room with me!!

My nerves started to panic. I grabbed my towel again and wrapped it tightly around myself quickly. Then I twirled around, looking over the whole room. I gasped when I saw this red haired boy laying comfortably on the bed. His emerald eyes were glued to me. I felt shame and disgrace wash over me. I felt exposed.

I clutched the tower tighter and raised it higher. My wet auburn hair dripped from the excess water and my teeth clashed together because the cold draft was getting to me. I was too stunned to rush back to the bathroom and locked the door and hide possibly forever.

His arms were folded behind his head as his tongue licked his lips after he dropped the dying cigarette from between his hands. The ashes burnt a little through the carpet as a whiff of smoke floated over it. I grimaced even harder.

My heart stopped beating from fear and so did my mind. I was too stunned to say anything or go anywhere. To my bitter disappointment, he swung his legs off from my laptop case and ducked his head underneath the board of the bunk bed. He was taller than he looked laying down when he stood up next to the bed. He was a good six feet tall. Oh boy…

A dangerous smile crawled on his face as he slowly approached me. His eyes danced with fire with each step he took, the flames burnt with fiery. To me, he looked like the devil. His red hair was hard to explain, but it was definitely bizarre. Green diamonds were engraved below his eyes.

I took a few steps backwards, my back hit the cold wall after the third step. My mouth went dry when he was only an inch away from me. The sly grin on his face did not falter. I closed my eyes and kept them shut waiting for the worst. My mind was cut off from the rest of my body because I wasn't moving or screaming. I was too much in shock, now those ridiculous dorm stories about getting raped didn't seem so silly to me anymore. They were all real…and now my story was going to be added on to the chain of various rape tales.

He was much bigger than I was no doubt, I couldn't hurt him if I tried. My lips curled to a hard grimace when I felt his black cloak against my hand that I desperately held the towel with, the thin fabric that covered my body. It was the only thing standing between him and what he wanted.

My eyes tightened harder with despair. Why did I bother coming here?

I felt his warm hands cupping around my hand, trying to pry them loose. I balled my hand into a tight fist as hard as I could as he tried to pull them apart.

I was an idiot for leaving Destiny Islands. I should have listened to my mother when she told me to be careful since the outside world was a dangerous place.

The stranger suddenly changed his mind from removing my hands and instead, I felt his hot breath against my skin, his tongue slithering down the side of my neck, just below my ear. I stayed perfectly still, too scared and stupid to do anything.

My entire body shook from the cold breeze, that's when it struck me that I could shout and perhaps someone could hear my cries. But if I did that, he might do something to me…I didn't want to think about it.

He pressed his body very close to mine, I could feel him breathing on me. His warm tongue trailed down my neck to my collarbone. I almost jumped when I felt his two fingers prancing from my belly as they made their way to my upper body. The touch of his fingers pricked me like needles. His hand stopped midway, as if he was changing his mind again. The wet trail of saliva that he left on my neck made me squeamish. It was as if my knees were about to give out.

Instead of what he was originally planning to do, he pressed his body against mine and groaned into my ear. I felt so sick and disgusted at myself and at this sick minded fool. His cheek brushed against my face. My eyes were bursting from pain because I was shutting them too tightly.

He slid his cheek as his nose trailed the outlines of my frigid face. Then, I felt a soft pair of lips against my cold, frightened ones. I did my best to keep my lips pressed together, but my effort was useless because he jabbed his tongue through them in an instant. His wet tongue played with mine.

I wanted to bite him. That's exactly what I did, I crushed my teeth against his tongue so hard, he grunted. He didn't pull back, but I believed he was annoyed but not too angry because he gently bit my lower lip, not hard but with a small amount of pressure. Then he pressed his hard body against my fragile one against the wall harder, it was like I was suffocating and gasping for air.

"Axel!" thundered a voice from behind the stranger.

Finally, help. Someone came to help me. A pair of angry footsteps came to us, I couldn't see him but I could hear him distinctively.

The person against me, Axel his name was apparently, was pulled away from me. I opened my eyes to find a blonde haired boy with innocent crystal blue eyes gripping onto the cloak of his friend. Axel winked at me before he turned to my savior.

"I'm busy, Roxas. Can't you see that?" he replied back, grinning evilly as he did so.

Roxas shook his head at him then turned to me. "I'm so sorry, I…I really am. Did he hurt you? Are you alright?"

The fool, how in Hell could I be alright when I was about to get raped by some lunatic? I was going to get molested, I wanted to scream this at him, how the hell do you think I am supposed to feel?

Roxas glared at Axel once more. "What were you thinking?"

"I wanted some fun," Axel said back casually, as if there was nothing wrong. "You don't see wet sluts in towels walking around in your room, do you? No, I didn't think so."

I felt so embarrassed, first he called me a slut, then I find out that this really wasn't my room at all, that I was in the wrong place all along. I wanted to cry but the tears refused to come out.

Roxas was about to say something in return, but Axel cut him short and continued to talk. "Don't give me that look, ok? I just saw her come out from the bathroom, then she stands over there and takes her towel off. What was I supposed to think? And, when I come over to her, she didn't resist when I got on her."

Lies. That wasn't true, well not all of it. I wanted to tell him to shut up and that it was him who wanted to do something with me. I wanted to shout at him that I wasn't a slut. Roxas shook his head in disbelief and turned to me, but his eyes were lowered. He couldn't look at me directly in the eyes.

"Please forgive him, he can't control his feelings," he mumbled.

Axel snorted loudly and rolled his eyes.

"We'll be leaving now," he told me, dragging Axel behind him as they left and shut the door.

But before he was out of sight, Axel turned to me, winked slyly, then gave me a flying kiss.

I wanted to kill myself…

**-End Chapter 1-**

* * *

I have chapter 2 about done. Please review my story so far and tell me what you think!! If there's interest from the readers, I'll post the next chapter soon. Oh, and this might change from T to M rating. Just letting you know ahead of time.

Thank you for your time for reading!

-ScarletDust


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II

As soon as they stepped out without another word, I rushed to grab random clothes and tossed them on right there.

My body was still damp, but I couldn't have cared any more. It was like my dignity was stripped off. I felt so dirty, so revealed. I think I even put my underwear on backwards. Hell with that, there was no time to fix it.

I grabbed my other clothes and shoved it in my suitcase then snatched my laptop off from the bed where that mysterious man number one put. When I rushed out the room, Roxas was leaning against the opposite wall with his arms crossed around his chest.

He was looking at the carpeted floor, but when I came into view, he smiled shyly at me. I glowered angrily. Disgusting boy.

"Wipe that damn smile off of your face," I snapped at him as I started to speed walk down the quiet hall dragging my luggage behind me.

His expression changed quickly at my attitude. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that…"

I heard him beginning to walk behind me, his footsteps almost matching my pace. "Sure you didn't." All boys were the same. All of them.

"I mean it really," he pressed on despite of me ignoring him. "Let me help you get to the right place. I promise you that he won't do that again."

You bet he won't. I was a fool for standing so helplessly. I cussed quietly at myself for that.

"Maybe I don't want your help," I spat at him when he was by my side. I rushed out through the doors and stood in the warm breeze. Looking around, I saw an identical building like this one and hurried to it, the sound of my suitcase strolling against the sidewalk distracted me as I tried to keep a calm face. I squinted a little when the setting sun's rays shined upon my face.

The stupid boy continued to follow me. I glared at him when he stood in front of me, blocking my way. He held out a hand to shake mine and was careful by not smiling. He looked serious, his lips weren't frowning, but at the same time, they weren't smiling. Sincerity lingered in his crystal blue eyes. My hands were strapped to my sides as his right hand stayed firmly in midair.

I sighed with frustration, not knowing if I should shake his hand.

He lowered his hand down, not wanting to force me into doing anything. "I really wish that you weren't in that position," he said sadly. "Axel didn't mean it like that."

"Shut up," I yelled at him. No one was near by to hear me, so I shouted some more without having to worry about attracting attention. "Just shut the hell up!!"

"I am really, really sorry that---"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!!!" My voice grew louder each time I yelled shut up. I stamped my foot against the pavement each time I yelled. I guess it was my way of exerting my anger out.

"Sorry, it's just that---", the moron began once more.

I interrupted him when he started apologizing again. "Stop defending your perverted friend!! You are probably just like him! Just leave me alone! Get lost!"

I shoved passed him rudely and stormed off. He didn't say anything or follow me.

---xxx---

Finally, I had made it to the right room. Somehow I had made it to the girl's dormitory instead of the boys'. Pfft, yeah right. Somehow I happened to make it to the wrong dorm. The girls' one wasn't that far from the boys'. It was just around the stinkin' corner…how could I have made that mistake?

Never will I enter that nut house building again. I approached my room door and inserted the key. This time, it worked and I was able to unlock the door. I scanned the room real quick before I stepped inside to make sure there were no boys in there.

There was no one around so I advanced on forward in with great caution. There were two bunk beds on each side of the room and a small nightstand next to them as well. It wasn't a big room as the other one that I had been in, but I liked it.

I strolled my luggage to the side and sat at a bed at random, taking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly. I didn't want college to start out like this, but I was going to be careful for it to not happen again.

As I placed my clothes neatly away in the empty drawers of the dresser, I wondered who my room mates were going to be. I hadn't met them yet, so I was looking forward to it. It would be just us girls, and no stupid perverted men.

A shiver ran through me at that thought that I could have possibly have gotten raped or molested. I should have file a report to the dean right away. Why hadn't I thought of that before? The shock must have overcome my senses, no doubt about it. Normally, I wouldn't let something like that go and let the other person get away with it.

Hurriedly, I left the room and locked it behind me when I headed towards the dean's office. Hopefully, he or she would be available to talk to.

---xxx---

The main office was empty except for the secretaries behind desks. Most of them were old and had white hair. It wasn't a comforting feeling to get the impression that they've worked here for so long and ended up looking like that, all old and wrinkly. Setting my useless assumptions aside, I got the attention of one of the secretaries.

"Um…excuse me?" I said in a very low, shy tone to the young woman who was occupied with her computer.

She took a second to flash her green eyes at me before acknowledging my presence. Whirling her chair away from the computer and towards me, she answered in a high pitched nasal tone, "Yes?"

"I'd like to talk with the dean right away, please." I hoped she wouldn't reject me and ask questions as to why I wanted to talk to him.

My luck failed me.

"May I ask why you'd like to talk with her?"

"Well…you see, I can't really explain to you. But I assure you, it's something very important and must be dealt with immediately." C'mon woman, just let me see her already! Patiently I waited for her to speak. If this damn woman was only kinder, I would have probably told her what had happened to me at the spot. But since she was such a jerk and other people were around us, I kept quiet about it.

She mused a bit and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but she isn't here at the moment. Perhaps you can come back another time?"

My heart fell. "Alright, I suppose…" Just great, damn it.

I made my way back to the dorms with no trouble at all this time. Thankfully. Upon reaching my door, I was surprised to find it already unlocked when I turned the doorknob. I think I bit my lip almost too hard that it was beginning to bleed. Why was it unlocked? I was so sure that before I left, I had locked it.

Maybe one of my roommates came in? With that thought comforting my fear, I went ahead and opened the door. Instead of walking inside, I stood at the edge of the room and peered ahead of me to find a girl by my suitcase.

She stood beside my suitcase as she rummaged through her own that she placed on the bed that I had sat on. Her back was to me so I couldn't get a proper glimpse of her face. I wanted to laugh at myself at how precautious I was being. Stepping inside, I walked slowly to the girl.

"Hey," I mumbled, trying to sound casual. That got her attention because she stood up straight and turned to look at me.

My eyes widened at what I saw. The girl was much taller than me and had a very dark look. Her black eyeliner and makeup gave her quite a dramatic look, along with the tight leather pants and top. The spiky red belt around her waist seemed dangerous too, get to close and you could prick yourself badly.

Her piercing eyes sliced through my surprised blue ones. I wasn't expecting this…at all. Nevertheless, she returned my greeting with a frown and simply said, "Hi."

Timidly I offered my hand for her to shake, but she looked confused. "What are you doing?"

Her monotone voice made me feel uncomfortable and her remark embarrassed me. "Oh, nothing…." I retreated and stuck my arms to my sides, making sure they wouldn't go out of place.

The tension was beginning to increase as we just stood there. She didn't introduce herself and neither did I, so I began. "I'm Kairi. And you?"

"Paine." Her thin lips remained in that steady frown.

I didn't know what to make of her answer. "Pain? What pain?"

"My name is Paine."

"Oh, sorry to hear that," I said back idiotically. I still didn't understand what she was trying to get across.

She rolled her eyes and turned her back to me once more and began to look through her open suitcase. It look a few seconds for me to realize what she was trying to tell me, her name was Paine, not that she was in pain.

It was silent and quiet. I continued to stand still and didn't know what to do next. "That's my bed," I hinted, trying to point out that the bed she had laid her things on were on bed that I had chosen. I wanted it because it was closer to the bathroom and there was a window that was beside it. The scenic view of the tall trees and welcoming light that shone through made me want to be near it.

Paine snorted, "It's not anymore."

I would have argued a little more, but instinct told me not to. She might be tough on me and try to do something to me….something violent. I didn't want that so I shut up, rolled my suitcase on the other side of the bedroom, then sat on the other bed across from her.

Sighing, I buried my face in my lap. Strands of my auburn hair slid down my legs as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I don't know what was happening to me. All of a sudden, I began to miss my family, Sora, Riku, and Destiny Islands. I didn't want to pursue an education in Japan. No, I just wanted to take the next flight home and stay there. Staying uneducated seemed better than being educated to me at the moment.

Maybe everything would have gone better if Sora or Riku had come with me. I wanted that so much. This college was making me homesick. Disgusting perverted guys and emo, suicidal girls was something I wanted to run away from. The sound of the slamming bathroom door made me jerk my head up and broke me out of my reverie.

Paine had entered the bathroom, leaving me to myself, so I slid down onto the floor and pulled my suitcase closer to me. Finding the right pocket, I unzipped it and pulled out a picture that I treasured a lot.

A small smile approached my face as I gazed upon the photo of Sora, Riku, and me. We were at Destiny Islands with the waves splashing behind us. I was standing in the middle with Sora on my right and Riku on my left. I sighed thinking how much we've changed. Riku was so tall, and his long silver hair was gorgeous. Sora and I had grown up too, our hair grew a bit longer and we looked more mature.

"Oh wow, who's that?" A happy voice asked me from behind, I almost jumped from the sudden outburst.

I peered over my shoulder to see a cheery girl with blond hair tied in various braids. She wore a reddish brown tank top with a pair of slacks. She leaned closer to me, laying a sea green colored nail on Riku.

"Oh, him? He's Riku." I answered her, surprised she'd take any interest. I hoisted myself up and as I did, she straightened up too.

"Riku you say?" She smiled again, "He's so hot. You guys are friends?"

I nodded. Well, Riku was good looking. I'm sure he'd be happy to hear that once I tell him. "Yeah we are, and we're very close."

The girl asked me another question, "You're not dating right?"

Laughing a little, I shook my head. "No, we're not." A look of satisfaction appeared on her face when I said that.

She shook my hand as I introduced myself. "I'm Kairi."

"Rikku," she replied.

"Riku?"

"Oh, not your friend Riku. Rikku spelled with two Ks," she explained to me.

"I see." Actually, I did find it a little strange for her to have the same name. Or it could just be me. Well, I think that every time I call her name, it will always remind me of my own friend back home, Riku. Oh boy…depression.

Paine stormed out from the bathroom with her usual frown and headed out of the room. She slammed the door hard enough for it to shake. But really, I was glad that she decided to leave.

"That's Paine. Don't worry too much about her, just don't try to piss her off," Rikku advised me carefully.

"I'll keep that in mind," I told her. I don't think I'd forget not to do that.

"So," she said, changing the topic, "How do you like it here?"

I sighed with frustration. "I hate it here."

"What?" Her eyes held worry and concern as she looked at me. "What makes you think that?"

I pondered on whether telling her what happened to me earlier or to just keep it a secret. Thinking….still thinking…hmmm, no I think I'll keep this thing to myself.

"I just miss my friends, that's all...", I muttered, failing to say anything better for a cover-up.

Rikku let out a yawn as she climbed to the top of the bunk bed. "I miss mine too." She let out a small giggle and said, "But they're just down the hall."

I sat on the bed underneath hers and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Something wrong?" she asked from above.

I thought about it for a brief moment before asking her, "Do you know anyone named Axel?"

"Axel?"

"Yeah, have you heard of him?" I hoped that she did because she could help identify him when I get him in trouble.

"Not really. Why? You know him?" she asked with mild interest.

"Sort of..." I wish I never met the freak...

The door opened and when I looked up, I saw half of Paine's body hidden behind it. A bored expression appeared on her face. "Hurry up, Rikku. Everyone's waiting for you."

"Oh, sorry." Rikku got down from the bunk bed and headed towards Paine, who had disappeared again. She turned around halfway and politely asked, "Would you like to come with us too?"

"Where?" I didn't think I was in the mood for going anywhere at the moment. What if I see the redheaded freak again? I shuddered at the thought.

"Somewhere for dinner," she informed me.

A soft knocked sounded behind the door.

"Hey, Rikku," a very familiar voice said from behind the door, his face hidden. "Can I borrow some money? I left my wallet back at my dorm because-" the masculine voice paused to let out a soft chuckle before continuing, "this crazy girl almost got knocked up by my friend when she---"

Rikku interrupted him, not allowing him to finish what he was saying. "Yeah, yeah. Just pay me back soon." She grabbed her purse that was dangling on the doorknob and fumbled through it.

"You know what, why don't you bring me something back?" It was obvious that Roxas guy was outside our room. And he's going with Rikku, Paine, and whoever else. I didn't want to go anywhere with him.

I brought my knees closer to my chest and wrapped my arms around them securely.

"Are you sure?" Rikku asked as she lunged the purse over her shoulder, her hand turning the doorknob.

I nodded my head. "Yeah," I glared at the floor beneath me with eyes full of anger and disgust as the memory flooded into my mind. An involuntary shudder took over my body.

"All right, see you soon," she bade me goodbye and left. The door banged loudly behind her, leaving me by myself.

I rocked gently back and forth, my arms tightened around my knees more. I rested my chin on my knees and sighed. Closing my eyes, I tried to drive away Axel's image. I hated him; his voice, his scent, the evil glimmer in his eyes, and especially that cunning smile. I took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to calm myself.

My heart beat faster; I could feel an intense heat glower my face. Tears trickled down my cheeks as I wiped them with the back of my hand. I stopped crying as fast as I started. Hoisting myself up, I dabbed the tips of my fingers on my damp face. I sat on the bed and pondered a bit on what I was going to do about this Axel person. That jerk for a secretary is obviously not going to let me see the dean. The dean's probably busy anyway. I would have to wait for tomorrow at least.

I grabbed my cell phone from my pocket and tried to call my paranoid mother to let her know that I made it to Japan all right. I wasn't going to tell her about the incident earlier today, because if I did, she'd probably make me go back home.

There was no way I was going back. Not now.

I grunted with frustration when I remembered my cell phone doesn't work in foreign countries. I struggled with the idea of using a phone on campus to call home because what if Axel was around? Would I risk another encounter with him on the same day?

I crept slowly to the door even though I was the only one in the room. I dared to open the door a little bit and peered out into the hall to see if there was anyone around. Silence filled the empty hallway. Not another soul was around. Everyone was probably out or in the cafeteria. I made sure that I had the room key and closed the door behind me as I hurried to get to a phone. I didn't know where one was, but I am sure that they might have some somewhere. They should, right?

My pace quickened as I turned the corner. I headed out of the girls' dormitory and stood in the bitter night. Light posts where stationed around the campus, but everything was still in darkness. A brilliant light shone over a phone both by a tree not too far from where I was standing. Rushing to it, I wished I wore something warmer as a cool breeze blew. I picked up the phone from the receiver and inserted coins into the slot. I waited for someone to pick up after I dialed the number.

"Hello?" my mother greeted me.

"Hello, Mom. I made it to Japan all right."

"I don't recognize the number, where are you calling from?" she asked curiously. "Where are you right now?"

"My phone doesn't work in foreign countries. I'm going to call from phone booths now I guess." I informed her as I stood in the bright light that the lamp post beside me shone. I snuck a glance around me to find everything looked darker standing in the light than from looking at it from the outside. I shivered a little by the cold.

"What a shame...", she sighed.

"How come?"

"Now I can't call you whenever."

Involuntarily, I rolled my eyes. When will she understand that she needs to give me some room??? "Right, well...I will call you as much as I can."

"How's everything there? Have you made any new friends? What about your roommates, are they well behaved?...." she showered me with endless questions, one after another after another.

"Everything's fine," I lied. "My roommates are nice." Well, one of them was at least.

"Are you sure you want to stay there?" my mother asked with dread in her voice. "Because you can always come home and...."

I waited impatiently for her to let me speak, but that's when the computerized voice told me that my time was almost up. I searched for spare change in my pockets, but I was all out. "Mom, I'm out of money. I'll call you back later, ok?"

"Stay safe," she cautioned me.

"Bye, Mom."

I hung up and turned around. I stepped out the intense light that was shining above me and started to head back to my room, but a duet of voices stopped me. A loud laugh startled me. Instinctively, I crept behind the large tree beside the phone booth and pressed my body against the tree trunk. The voices grew louder and louder. I strained my eyes to see the faces of the boys who were walking my way. Fear submerged me when I saw Roxas' and Axel's faces.

Axel blew out a cloud of smoke around them as he held the dying cigarette from his mouth. A frown crept upon my face, but was soon replaced by panic when they stopped in front of the street light. Axel leaned against the phone booth as he crossed his arms around his stomach. Roxas stood in front of him eating a rice ball or something like that. The two were conversing with each other. A bored expression lay on Axel's face as Roxas babbled on.

My breathing ceased as my lips trembled. Panic took over me. What was I do to? What if he saw me? I shuddered at the thought.

I thought of moving to the other side of the tree because if Axel glanced to his left, he could see me in plain sight. Slowly, I moved my foot to the side to make my way on the other side of the tree where I will be less visible, and possibly be able to escape without being seen. I moved as slow and carefully as I could but the grass, dead leaves, and twigs beneath me didn't make it easy. With each small step that I took, you could hear the crunching of dead leaves.

And Axel was quick to notice that.

I halted when I heard Axel say abruptly, "Hold on."

Roxas stopped talking and waited.

Axel's footsteps came closer to the tree. I trembled as I sensed him walking leisurely around the tree. He was midway when he stopped. The bark of the tree scratched me when I pressed my body harder against it. I closed my eyes and tried to stay calm. He stopped halfway, didn't he?

"What are you doing?" Roxas asked, his muffle voice reaching my ears.

"Nothing...," Axel answered back lazily. His voice sounded louder than I thought it would.

"It's cold out here, c'mon, let's go now," Roxas pleaded. I wished Axel would listen.

To my dismay, Axel said, "One sec. Just stay there, OK?"

"Whatever. Hurry up, damn it."

The foul stench of smoke made me gag. Axel blew another cloud of smoke and I could smell that more. My eyes gradually opened and I saw a thin film of smoke around me. I held my breath not to take in the smoke. It was getting harder to breathe. If I continued to creep around the tree, Roxas would see me. I stupidly trapped myself _again. _Damn.

If I was lucky enough, Axel would turn around and leave.

"Axel, what the hell are you doing? Taking a piss?" Roxas said sarcastically.

"Shut up."

Axel walked more around the tree, getting closer to me. I could hear his footsteps grow louder.

I couldn't hold my breath any longer. I had to breathe. Big mistake. When I inhaled the smoke, it almost made me gag. And on top of that, it made me need to cough. I tried to hard suppressing the cough in. It was killing me. My eyes watered as Axel blew more smoke.

My throat was choking. I couldn't help it when the cough escaped my lips.

_Shit!_

I threw my hands around my mouth quickly, hell, like that would help. Axel knew I was there now. There was nothing I could do.

In my peripheral vision, I could see streaks of red. I turned to my left to be greeted by that same cunning smile that greeted me earlier. My knees shook, my arms tightened around me as my body grew stiff.

"Hey babe," he whispered deviously. He removed the cigarette from between his lips and held it in-between his fingers. "Waiting for me?"

Stupidly, I shook my head to his question. My eyes widened when he took a step closer. He was only a few feet away from me now. His emerald eyes glimmered devilishly in the moonlight. The moonlight reflected of off his skin, giving him a vibrant glow.

I reminded myself not to do the same thing of what I did before. Instead of standing there like bait, I made a run for it. But Axel lunged forward and grabbed my wrist. I let out a scream. "Let go of me!" I shouted loudly.

His grip tightened around me as I struggled more. I screamed when he squeezed me wrist harder; my whole arm felt like it was burning. I dug my nails into him, piercing his skin. He grunt and let me go, but not because I hurt him, because Roxas was coming to us.

I ran away from him the moment he let go. I didn't look back once; I didn't want to. I pulled the glass door open to the girls' dorm and sprinted through the halls to get to my room. I was breathless when I reached it; I struggled to get the keys from my pocket. My hand shook as I tried to insert the key into the keyhole. Once I got it opened, I slammed the door shut. I flipped the light off and dove into my bed. I shoved my face into the pillow as I was under the covers. My heart beat wildly; I tried to calm it down.

Never will I ever go out at night alone again.

**-End Chapter 2-**

* * *

So, how was it? I hope you all liked it. And I'd like to thank you guys for reviewing my story. BTW, I am terribly sorry for the late update. School's just getting in the way and exams were killing me T_T

Please tell me what you think. XD

I assure you that later chapters will be suspenseful!! Thanks for reading.

-ScarletDust


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter III_

OK, so this isn't what I was expecting when I wanted to start college...but I had no intentions on going back home. I refused to be belittled by my paranoid, over-protective mother who thinks that I always have to be in her sight. I think I am old enough to take care of myself now. If I go back now, I can bet that I will not be able to go anywhere ever again, let alone another foreign country. I just had to be smart about things now...

I heaved a sigh as I walked by myself to my first class, which was Calculus unfortunately. I hated math...doesn't everyone? I placed my books on the side of a desk that was roughly in the middle of the classroom. I sat quietly in the semi-full room as various students idly talked to each other. I sniffled a yawn, since I wasn't able to sleep properly last night. Resting my head on my hand, my eyes began to doze off for a little while. I was so groggy and tired. Not to mention hungry, since I overslept there was no time to eat.

Reluctantly, I forced myself to look around the classroom to see if the teacher was there. I wanted to make sure that I didn't look like I was slacking off. First impressions are always important, you know? He wasn't around and the class was supposed to start in a few minutes. Where was he? Late I guess...

Sitting up straight, I opened my notebook and got my pencil ready to take notes and whatnot. The bell rang, making everyone grab a seat and get settled. Hallways began to get empty as everyone hurried to their class. Background chatter filled the room as we waited.

And then it happened.

It was like the whole world stopped spinning all of a sudden. Through the door, he came, with a smug smile planted on his milky skin. Blazing red hair of his caught everyone's attention. Sparkles glimmered in his eyes. His mischievous eyes narrowed down to me, he flashed me a warm smile. I couldn't help but to look at what he was wearing. He looked so different wearing a black suit with a black tie hanging from his neck.

He set the briefcase on the teacher's desk that was on the other side of the room. He pulled at his tie a little and gave us all a sweeping glance. He walked towards us, but stopped a few feet from where I was. Straining my head around, I looked if there was an empty seat avaliable. Any thing away from him would be great. But my luck failed me because every seat was taken. Damn.

Clearing his throat, he said, "Sorry for being late. You can call me Reno. Personally, I don't like the whole 'Mr' routine."

Everything he said was a big blur to me after that. My eyes were staring hard at the top of my desk. I wanted to run. Maybe I could. Was this some kind of joke? Wasn't he a student here?

Well, obviously, he wasn't, otherwise he wouldn't be subsituting would he?

I wanted to throw up.

But, wait, this was perfect. He would be "teaching" and in the mean time, I would go to the office, get a hold of the dean and tell her. I dared to raise my hand. "Reno"'s eyes traveled to my hand, his grin widened. He gestured me to talk when he nodded his head, a strand of wild red hair covering his left eye.

"I...uh..." Wait, this isn't high school. Do we raise our hands to get out of the classroom, or do we just leave?? I could feel everyone's eyes staring awkwardly at me. "I'd like to use the restroom."

"Sure," he said just like that and continued on with whatever he was talking about.

I scrambled off, taking my books and all with me, out the room and speed walked to the main office. My heart beat so fast and my breathing began to stagger. But all of that didn't matter to me too much because I just reached the office. Relief came over me as I walked to the secretary's desk. I went to another lady this time, one much younger and cheery looking. She gave me a smile and waited as I tried to catch my breath.

"I'd like to..." I paused to calm down, to get my breathing normal again. "see the dean please...", I paused a sec for a breath of air, "right now. It's really important...and confidential."

Impatiently, I waited. The woman in front of me did not waste time in calling the dean's office. She walked me to the dean's office and opened the door for me.

The dean, Ms. Dona looked at me with curious eyes. "Come on it. Take a seat."

I did as I was told and placed my books with a loud _thud!_ on the edge of her desk. I hope she didn't mind. A cool draft blew in from the window that was open just a hair on my right. It actually kind of relaxed me. Ms. Dona waited with great patience and did not rush me as I tried to convert my thoughts and worries into words and sentences.

"Hi, my name is Kairi and I am a freshman here." I stopped briefly, thinking how stupid I sounded. Whatever, I continued on. "I'd like to report sexual assualt...or almost rather from a man named Axel."

"Axel?" she mused over the name carefully. Then typed the name in her computer to do a student search on him or something like that. I couldn't tell since the computer screen was not facing me. She looked at me confused or baffled. "There is no one here by that name."

"What about teachers?" I suggested, then related her what I thought. "He's in the calculus class right now actually. That's the class I am in right now. He's calling himself Reno instead of Axel. I freaked out and came here, thinking it was the perfect time to---"

"What does he look like?" she interrupted me. The ends of her lips curled into a frown. Her eyebrows furrowed a little bit.

"His hair looks like red, ferocious flames. Emerald diamonds are underneath his green eyes. He's really tall and wears a black cloak." I tried to think of something else to add.

She mused over at what I just said. "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday."

"Reno was gone all week before that. _He_ couldn't have been the one."

My blood boiled as I tried to keep still and maintain a steady voice. "Are you trying to defend him?"

"Kairi, all I am trying to do is--"

This time I cut her off. "No, you're defending him. So, what are you thinking of doing now? Let him off the hook?"

Mrs. Dona folded her hands and looked at me sternly. "My first priority is the student's safety and I will do whatever measures it takes to...."

I tuned her annoying voice out as a new fear crept inside of me. It was silent when she was done talking. That's when I refocused and pleaded, "Please. You have to believe me. Axel...or Reno, whatever his name is, he's in this building right now. He's the one who almost _raped_ me. Why can't you see that. Where could he have gone off to the week before? Hmm? Where? I'll tell you." I paused for a quick second as I leaned in closer to her desk, my eyes keeping direct contact with her green ones. "He was prowling around, waiting for an easy target, then BAM!" I slapped my hand on the desk for effect then carried on as the echo died down. "He goes in and gets what he wants. And what better day to do that than on the day before school actually begins? Hmm?"

It was silent as Mrs. Dona looked keenly at me.

"He was looking around for lost, clueless girls, followed them then---"

She raised a stern hand and cut me off sharpy, "Enough. I said I would take care of it, didn't I?"

I nodded reluctantly as I stood up and head for the door, "Fine..."

"Wait," she instructed me as she hastely scribbled something on piece of paper. Folding it carefully, she placed it in an envelop. "Give this to the secretary at the front desk for me."

I walked to her and grabbed the envelop from her. I wondered what it was about, but she said sternly, "I trust you not to read it."

"Right." I walked to the secretary and gingerly handed it to her, then walked out.

I trudged my sorry ass to calculus again. Damn dean. She didn't seem like she really cared. I sighed inwardly angrily. I stopped walking as I neared the classroom door. Did I really want to do in there again? I shook my head, answering to myself. There was no way in hell I was going with that freak in there. I brought my body closer to the wall beside the open door. His voice was loud enough for me to hear. This was so frustrating. Maybe I should go in? But what good would that do?

"Hey."

My heart froze.

That voice.

It was _him_.

I turned my head sharply to my side to see him leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. His red blazing hair wildly flared in every direction. That same smug smile planted on his face remained the same as he observed me. My lips curled into a heavy frown as my eyes widened with horror.

This wasn't making any sense. Not at all. Wasn't he the one in the classroom right now? Then what the hell was he doing out _here?_ I quickly stole a peak in the room to see Reno's back turned to me. I turned to Axel swiftly.

They were like...twins?! Was this a coincedence? Or did they just look a hell of a lot a like?

"W-what---" I couldn't go on.

He took it as his cue to start talking. "What?"

I stayed absolutley still with my back still plastered against the wall. So many questions lingered at the edge of my tongue, but I couldn't bring it to myself to ask them.

"Why don't we go for a walk." He lounged forward to me and gently grabbed my wrist. My legs felt too weak to object and I began to feel lightheaded.

He glanced at me briefly, "Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything to you. I just want to talk."

I tossed a disgusted look at him. I dared to kick his lower leg.

Axel grunted, then tighted his grip on my wrist.

"LET GO OF ME!" I yelled as I turned away from him, "HELP!!"

Axel whirled around to cover my mouth this his hand. He brought my body close to him. I was facing away from his as he whispered hoarsely in my ear, "Do something like that again, I'll burn you to hell---Get it?"

I nodded as my breathing ceased. He let of me, but still held onto my wrist. His threat seemed childish, but I knew what he meant. Just that he'd hurt me.

Of course.

We walked down the hall and turned the corner into the girls' bathroom. My mind wasn't functioning properly. I should have screamed, yelled, something. But I didn't. Axel brought a new fear in me. Instinct told me that I was better off listening to him then disobeying.

The girls' bathroom was empty when Axel dragged me inside. He shoved me violently in an empty stall and locked the door behind himself. I was only an inch away from him now. It was hard to breath because of the smoke stench he carried with him on his black robe.

A fresh smile came across his face as he saw the lingering fear in me.

"Why don't you sit down for a moment," he suggested. "It'll be more comfortable for you."

He wrapped his hands around my shoulders and forced me to sit on the toliet seat.

Gross. I shuddered at the thought of all the disgusting germs crawling on my clothes and down my legs. I placed my books on my lap and held them close.

Pleased with himself, he leaned against the stall door and looked over me very slowly.

"So..." he hesistated for a moment. I guess he was trying to get his thoughts together. "What did you tell Dona?"

So he knew. That must mean that he was following me.

"Are you that stupid not to figure it out yourself?" What a dumb question for him to ask, seriously.

He rolled his green eyes at me. Then taking something from his pocket, he said, "You really shouldn't have done that."

Peeling himself from the stall door, he leaned in closer to me. I could feel his hot breath against my face, along with the cigarette smell. I could feel the tip of his nose touching mine.

His voice toned down to a soft, delicate whisper. My blue eyes locked with his bright green ones. "I have a detonator in my hand."

I froze. Shock engulfed me whole. It was so random and unexpected.

"Y-you're going to blow up the whole school?" Even though I was whispering, my voice was pretty hoarse.

"No...just Dona. And then some." He let out a soft chuckle.

A cunning grin appeared on his face as he brought the small detonator with a red button on the top in between us. I glanced down to see it.

Even though I had developing hate for that waste of a women, I still couldn't let him kill her. It was morally wrong. It was just...inhuman.

I tried to snatch it from his hand, but he had a steel grip on it. "Give it to me!" I exclaimed, as if he'd listen.

He grunted as he yanked it closer to his side, pulling me closer to him in the process. I bumped into his chest by accident when he did that, causing him to fall back into the wall of the stall.

"Damn it, Kairi." He hollered angrily. "Get the hell off me."

"How do you know my name?" I asked surprised. I never told it to him, and Roxas didn't know, so how could he have known?

Ignoring my question, he pushed me against the opposite wall. I grunted as a sharp pain shot down my back. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I can."

Anger and rage burst through me. This was insane. Pushing all the previous fear I had of him, I lounged forward at him, grabbing the detonator. Axel's hands were still wrapped tightly around it.

It was a silly sight if you think about it. One boy and girl fighting over something so small in a tiny bathroom stall. I tugged and he just pulled me more closer to him as he brought it to his side.

That's when an idea occurred to me. I shoved my knee up his groin, causing to let out a yell. He let go of the denator because of the pain throbbing between his legs.

This was were everything went wrong.

I tried to catch the detonator that was falling to the floor, but it slipped through my fingers. I wasn't fast enough, and it fell top down inbetween Axel and I.

"Oh shit!" I began to panic.

A loud BOOM! sounded not too far from where we were. There was more than one explosion. Three I think, at least.

The floor beneath us shook violently. I lost my balance and fell backwards, hitting the wall. Axel came tumbling down on me. His body crushed mine as he lay uselessly on top of me.

"Kairi, you stupid moron," Axel grumbled through his teeth (clearly still in pain when I kicked him) when the shaking stopped.

I was breathing so hard, I thought my heart would stop from it pumping blood so hard.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." I kept murmuring, my mind became fuzzy.

He hastily hoisted himself off from me, allowing me to take a breath.

He straightened his back when he stood up. I was still lying down on the floor with a terrible headache taking over me. He looked taller and meaner from where I was.

"Damn," he grumbled. "I wanted to press it..."

I gave him a disgusted look. "You didn't really kill---"

"Yes, I did." He ran a hand through his messy hair. "I can't have anyone---"

He left his sentence unfinished.

A new shade of cruelty invaded his eyes. He grabbed me harshly from my shirt and forced me on my feet.

"You're going to listen to me very carefully," he slammed me against the wall again. "If you do something stupid like that again, I'll make sure I blow your ass straight to hell. And if you tell anyone else, well...I think you know what will happen."

I just stared at him with tremor and trepidation.

"Got it memorized?" He brought his face closer to mine. We were about a 1/2 inch apart. I felt his cruel vibes rubbing off of him and piercing me.

I nodded my head to indicate that I understoond him well.

He let go of me and thrust me away causing me to hit my head against the sharp edge of the toilet roll dispender as he unlocked the stall door. He slammed it shut behind him as he left me alone.

A loud fire emergency message repeated itself over and over telling everyone to evacuate the building, but I stayed where I was. My body grew cold and numb.

This man was a killer. A violent, twisted, screwed in the head murderer.

I felt so dizzy and light-headed, I couldn't think clearly any more.

I slide down onto the dirty floor slowly. My head hung limp on top of my shoulder. I could feel a thin, warm trickle of blood drip from my head and down my face.

My eye lids began to flutter and a moment later, I lost all consciouness.

---xxx---

So, how was it?? I really hoped you liked it. Perhaps this chapter was short, but it was good, yah? Well, please leave a review and tell me what you think. Criticism is welcome, but just don't be a jerk about it. XD

I'll have chapter 4 up soon. And I really do want to apologize for the longgggg wait. I was so sick. TT_TT

Thank you so much for reading.

-ScarletDust


	4. Chapter 4

**Petrified **

**x-x-x**

_Chapter IV _

I was slowly beginning to gain consciousness. I sat up straight to find myself in my dorm room with Paine. She was busy on her laptop which rested on her lap as she sat upright on her bed. I deliberately blinked my eyes a few times to clear the fogginess in them.

"What happened?" was the first thing I asked.

Without bothering to look at me, she answered plainly, "You fainted or something and someone found you in the bathroom."

I tried to remembered what had happened earlier. Everything slowly pieced together in my mind. There was an eerie silence between us. I broke the silence and said, "There was an...explosion?" I sounded uncertain, and Paine tossed me a quick baffled look then focused back on her laptop. "What was that all about?"

"Explosion?" she asked, not understanding what I was saying. "I don't know what you're talking about. There was no explosion."

"Is Dona OK? She's still alive, isn't she?" My voice went up an octave higher.

Paine paused to look at me. Her right eyebrow was perched a little. Her lips curled into a thin frown. If I wasn't mistaken, I believe there may have been annoyance lingering in her eyes from my endless questions. "Yeah, she's _alive_."

Rolling her eyes, she continued on with her work, "Wish she were dead," she muttered under her breath loud enough for me to hear.

I stood up slowly and walked to the bathroom. My head was throbbing with an enduring pain. I splashed cold water upon my face to cool down. When I saw my face closely in the mirror, I saw there was a small cut on the right side of my forehead with a layer of dried blood around it. With prudent hands, I touched the cut to see how bad it was. And what a stupid thing that was. I retracted my hand automatically because it began to hurt even more. What an idiotic thing to do. I should have left it alone.

I walked out the bathroom and sat on my bed, right across from Paine. I wanted answers and she was the one I could get them from, for now that is.

"Who found me?"

No answer.

I spoke a little louder, in case she couldn't hear me from the music she was listening to from her iPod.

"Who was it that found me?"

"I don't know," she answered blandly.

"What about when the building shook?" I knew she didn't want to answer any of my questions, but I prodded on anyways.

She heaved a long, exaggerated sigh. "There was some construction work going on and they did something."

"Like what?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know, damn it? Why don't you ask them yourself."

A rising anger dwelled in her voice.

Construction site. So, that's probably what it was all about. Axel was just trying to scare me...he wasn't really going to kill anyone. I should've known. He had nothing to do with the "explosion". It was all in the timing.

"What time is it?" I was clueless as to what anything was, what day, time...

"It's time for you to get a watch," she spat out.

"I was just asking..."

"Yeah, well, don't."

I headed towards the window and pulled away the curtain. Sure enough, it was evening. I must have been asleep for a long time.

I began to wonder about the rest of the classes I missed today. Sighing, I sat back on my bed. Nothing to do, nowhere to go.

Quietly, I watched Paine type furiously away on her laptop. Her eyes were focused on the screen and if I saw correctly, I think maybe I may have seen a small, quick smile appear on her face, but it was only for a millisecond. She was back to her frowning self.

My eyes gazed upon her fashion sense. The goth, dark clothing she wore made her look daunting and cruel, with the chains hanging everywhere on her leather pants and the high top leather boots. Her red eyes I think were the most daunting feature about her. The wild, spiky hair gave her a tomboyish appearance.

I began to think about why she was so cold and why she was who she was. What happened to her that made her so distant and cold? The only person I've seen her be decent with was Rikku and no one else really.

Maybe, if I get to know her, I would understand better about who she really is.

"So, what are you doing?" I asked, risking a dark glare.

"What's it to you?"

"Nothing, I was just..." I left my sentence unfinished.

Silence except for the fast clicks from her keyboard filled the room.

"Where's Rikku?"

I should have just stayed quiet...

"Do I look like her keeper to you?"

I shook my head even though she wasn't look at me. She let out another tiresome sigh.

A knock on the door aroused my attention. Paine ignored it so I had to get up and open the door myself.

Thinking it was Rikku, I didn't bother to look through the eyehole thing.

I swung the door open and slammed it shut right away after I saw who it was standing in front of me.

Anger flared across my face as I quickly locked the door. I leaned against the door and stood firmly in case he tried something...

"Hey!" his muffled voice sounded from behind the door. He knocked the door again, as if I'd be stupid enough to open it.

He refused to stop knocking until I answered him. Paine bellowed at me to just "Open the damn door to make him shut up already".

"What do you want?" I answered back from behind the closed door.

"Open up!" he said.

"No!" I shouted back. "Go away."

"Can you please open the door," he pleaded.

"No," I shot back quickly.

"Is this a bad time for you?"

"Yes!"

"Well...are you sure?"

I rolled my eyes. "I am _more_ than sure. I've never been more sure in my life..."

"OK, then..."

I waited impatiently for him to go.

"Do you know where I can find her?" he continued.

"Who?" I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Rikku," he answered. "Do you know where I can find her?"

"No."

"Can you tell her something for me?"

"Do it yourself." I started sounding somewhat like Paine.

"Tell her," he began, "tell her that ---"

Immediately I cut him off. "I'm not telling her anything for you."

He ignored me and said, "Tell her that I wanted to talk to you privately, that I want to help you."

The comeback that I was going to say stopped at the edge of my tongue. My mouth slowly closed and my heart beat faster.

When I didn't answer for a long time, he sounded worried. "Are you still there?"

I nodded my head, even though he couldn't see me from behind the door. When I realized this, I said quietly, "Yes."

"Do you think we can talk right now?" he asked, a new hope arising in his voice.

I had to think about this.

After all the crap that happened so far, I seemed to be indecisive. What is it that he wanted to talk about? I doubt he could be trusted in anyway...he was probably scheming something. But my mind rejected that thought. Something about the sincerity in his voice made me think that he was truly trying to help. At the same time, my heart couldn't accept this. It was too dangerous. The more I stayed away from him, the better it was for me.

"I don't know," I whispered.

I could hear his voice louder, probably because he leaned in closer to the door himself. In a quiet whisper, he said, "Please."

"I...I..." I was at a lost of words. This was really unexpected. I didn't think that he'd come here at all, let alone so soon. I hated him, never wanted to see his face again. I arched my head against the door, and stared at the ceiling. What should I do? Am I just blindly walking into some kind of trap?

"I really think we need to talk," his voice toned down a notch.

"Why don't you talk from where you are right now?" My voice was just as quiet. I didn't want to face him directly.

"It's not going to be the same."

"Why do you even care..." _about me?_

He didn't say anything.

Instead, I did. I just made up my mind. "Please, just leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you."

_Not now, anyways_, I thought to myself.

"I understand."

It was the last thing he said before I heard him walk away. When I couldn't hear his footsteps any longer, I took in a deep breath and trudged back to my bed.

I walked right past Paine, who was obviously looking at me with a strange expression on her face. "Who was it?"

I shook my head to answer her since I felt that if I spoke up, I'd lose it. Crawling miserably underneath the covers, I forced myself to go back to sleep. I just needed to get away from everything...

---xxx---

The next morning, I woke up with a fresh start. Putting everything that had happened to me so far was put behind me. I didn't come all the way from home just to be scared from two stupid morons...

I grabbed a white skirt and blue blouse and headed towards the bathroom, and just as I shut the door, someone knocked. I opened it to see Paine standing before me.

"Get out," she commanded.

Her gleaming red eyes told me that if I didn't listen, I'd be sorry. With the bundle of clothes in my arms, I walked out and stepped aside for her. She shut the door loudly in my face, but opened it again.

In a stern voice, she said, "Let's get this straight. I use the bathroom first. Then you. Get it?"

I nodded my head. Gosh, what bitch...

Strands of my auburn hair swayed from the force when she slammed the door. I sighed and waited. Rikku wasn't in the room, she probably left early.

It would've been nice talking to her though, instead of Paine...

By the time I got ready and had breakfast by myself in the cafeteria, I was rushing to the dreadful Calculus class.

I don't think I was late since there weren't too many people in the class. I calmed down when I took my seat and was just glad that the teacher hadn't come in yet. "Reno" was his name. Oh please...

What scared me though was that he and Axel looked _exactly_ alike. It was a striking resemblance. I wouldn't have believed that they were two different people if Axel hadn't shown up randomly yesterday while Reno was in here.

I sighed to myself, pondering on what Roxas wanted to talk to me about last night. Maybe he was really being sincere, perhaps I should've just gone with him to an open place or something and just let him talk. I couldn't beat myself up for putting him down last night because I think it's quite understandable as to why I refused to put my guard down and trust him.

Reno came in a few minutes before it was time to start the class. People took their seat and I tried to focus on Reno and all the x's and y's and various equations he was using. I couldn't think clearly though. Just looking at Reno brought up images of Axel in my mind, images that I so desperately tried to push out.

Class was already over and I was lost. I didn't understand anything and asking questions wasn't something I wanted to do. Not with Reno, that is...

Everyone filed out of the class, I tried to rush out, but there were too many people in the way. I was behind the queue. And unfortunately for me, Reno called me to him. By the time I walked towards him (with slow, cautious steps of course) everyone had left. So close, I was so close to getting out of the hell place.

Reno flashed me a friendly smile, his eyes filled with warmth. "How are you?"

"Fine," I lied. I hadn't been so close to him before. I hated it. He smelled of men's cologne and aftershave. I supressed a frown.

"Are you all right? I couldn't help to notice that you seemed...out of it?"

"I'm fine," I repeated stupidly.

"Sure?" he prodded.

I nodded.

"If there's anything I can help you with, you can always come to me," he informed me.

_Yeah, right._

"Are you understanding what's going on in class?"

He was trying to find out if I was getting Calculus...pfft, like he really cared.

"I think so," I lied again. It was easier lying than telling the truth.

He smiled again. "All right, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah," I mumbled.

I walked out of his room and when I was out of his sight, I _ran_ as far away from him as I could.

---xxx---

If I thought that I was going to see the last of Axel, I was terribly mistaken. It was prominent I suppose...I mean what were the odds of him leaving me alone anyway? Somewhere deep in my heart, I believed that he wouldn't leave my alone until he got what he wanted...

The thought lingered in my mind a little as I sat by myself in the cafeteria for lunch. I could've gone to the city and went to a nice restuarant, but I didn't want to leave campus for obvious reasons. Maybe, perhaps during the weekend, I will visit the city and see what Tokyo is really like. I should go with Rikku or maybe---

"Hey there," a voice said behind me.

I turned around, even though I already knew it was _him_.

He had the guts to sit beside me and smiled cunningly with his emerald eyes dancing with glee. He stunk of cigarettes and maybe alcohol?

"Leave me alone, Axel," I told him, as I tried to keep my voice firm.

In the inside, fear was taking over. My heart began to beat faster and I think I felt dizzy.

"Now, now" he began, "Don't be like that. I just wanted to give you some company."

"I don't need your company," my voice broke in the middle, but I didn't break out.

"Why would a pretty girl like you, sit by herself?"

He raised his hand, and briskly touched the side of my cheek.

I flinched and slapped his hand away. Directly looking into his eyes, I said, "Don't touch me."

"Pretty and bad-tempered."

As he edged closer to me, I could feel his hot breath against my skin as he whispered slowly.

"Why don't we go somewhere far, far away from here?"

I scooted a few inches away from him, and said nothing in return. I thought that if I didn't respond to him, he'd leave me alone.

How wrong I was.

He brought me in closer when he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me towards him. Our bodies were touching side-by-side, and it made me feel sick.

He continued to whisper in my ear, "Just me and you. Forget about everything else. I'll show you a good time, a way to melt your stress away."

I stuck to my plan of staying quiet. He'd get bored if I said absolutely nothing and maybe, he'd move on. I made sure my face was composed, hiding all signs of fear so that he doesn't see how scared I was.

With one arm still around me, he took his free hand and slowly approached my leg. I felt his warm hand travel around my thigh and just stayed put for a moment.

"You can sit beside me in my hot convertible and we can drive down in the setting sunset and just take it easy..."

Sweat made my skin moist from his body so close to mine. My breathing began to stagger when he started to stroke his hand up and down my thigh, putting his hand underneath my skirt. He didn't touch my underwear, but his hand was really close to doing so. He closed his eyes and breathed in my scent, then exhaled.

My patience died out. Without hesitation, I pulled his hand off of me and stood up. I tried to remain calm, but inside I was freaking out. My mind was telling me to just shout at him, but my mouth was too scare to do so. With my gaze focused on the floor, I briskly walked out from the cafeteria without glancing back, and aimlessly walked around in large crowds of people until it was time for the rest of my classes.

---xxx---

Yesterday, I missed some of the most important courses. So I was already behind and I needed to catch up. But, it was hard to do so since Axel invaded my mind. I blanked out in my law, art, computer, and other classes.

The worst one of all, was the last one.

Chemistry.

Just when I thought that it couldn't have gotten worst, and just when I thought that I was almost through the school day, I was proven to be wrong.

The only seats left in the lab were in the back. I trudged my sorry ass all the back there and sighed....My headache was coming back again and I didn't want to get more behind than I already was by leaving early. Class didn't begin yet, so I slouched in my seat and placed my head against the black table top.

Just when I closed my eyes, they opened wide when the strong, putrid smell of smoke and something stale met my senses.

_No, no, no, no....this can't be happening. _

The smell grew closer and closer with each step he took.

I didn't have to lift my head up to know it was him.

_He wouldn't....couldn't..._

The stool beside me was pulled back and he seated himself. My head was still against the black table top on its side.

With a playful grin, he cocked his head to the side and greeted me, "Hey hun, " he egded closer.

I think I was about to vomit...

"Looks like I'm your lab partner."

_Oh shit! _

His grin only grew wider when my lips curled into a deep frown and my eyes began to tear up.

Why, I thought to myself, why me?

**-End Chapter 4-**

So, how was it?

I'm so sorry this was late, I tried. With all the school work pulling me down, it's not easy.

I'm currently working on a Kairi x Marluxia fanfic, so that will be up soon, if you are interested. XD

Please tell me what you think in your review. Thanks!

I assure you that more twists are to come. I really appreciate those who are still with this story.

Thank you.

-ScarletDust


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter V _

My mind still couldn't understand why Axel was sitting beside me. I still didn't give up on the idea of not talking to him. I tried to make my face as expressionless and careless as I could. To block him from my side view, I propped my head against my right hand and leaned in closer to the table.

When class started, the teacher began lecturing and with my left hand, I jotted as many things as I could. I frowned when I saw how sloppy my handwriting was. The words were hard to read. I sighed. This was going to be harder than I thought. Axel wouldn't stop talking either, which didn't help the situation. It was almost impossible to block him out.

"About yesterday," he whispered quietly to me, "it was all in fun, you know? I like to play games. You like games?"

I remained quiet and pretended I couldn't hear him, but I already knew what he was talking about, about what happened in the bathroom when he dragged me in there...

"I have to admit though, I didn't expect you to be _that_ gullible." He sighed, "But now I know."

I could feel him snicker at me.

"About the cut on your forehead, I didn't know you were so clumsy and you'd end up hurting yourself."

I snorted in disbelief. By this time, I couldn't hide his face from my sight anymore. My chicken-scratch handwriting was unbearable. I had to use my right hand to write down notes and whatnot. If only he was sitting on my left...

From my peripheral vision, I could see him smiling at me.

"So...you're still going to give me the cold shoulder I see?" He leaned in closer to me to look at my reaction. Which of course, I did nothing and went on as if he didn't exist.

"All right, that's fine with me. I mean, I don't mind doing all the talking."

I sighed inwardly then looked around desperately to see if I could sit anywhere else. To my dismay, it looked like I was stuck where I was. Maybe I could switch places with someone else later on, if anyone would want to sit next to this redheaded freak that is. Thinking about that now, well, maybe my chances of sitting somewhere else didn't look so good after all. Damn.

"Where are you from?"

Ha! As if I'd tell him.

He kept on going though, despite my unresponsive behavior. I just kept telling myself that I had to be patient.

"You miss anyone special back home?"

Right away, Sora came into my mind. I missed him so much...

Involuntarily, I sighed and Axel took that as a yes.

"What's his name?"

No answer.

"I bet he doesn't care for you."

Whatever Axel, whatever.

"I bet he's cheating on you right now, probably going after someone else while you're stuck here and you don't even know it." He make a _tsk, tsk_ sound with his tongue to show dismay.

Sora would never do that. I mean, we weren't boyfriend/girlfriend, but I knew we had mutual feelings for each other. I mean, all those sunsets we watched had to mean something right?

I kept my eyes on the teacher and held my gaze. Axel still wouldn't shut up.

"I bet he's a fag," he sounded so serious when he said that. "I bet he couldn't keep you satisfied in bed."

I knew he was trying to make me upset, and it was almost working. _Almost._

"Just forget about him."

I would never forget about Sora.

"No?" he prodded.

My lips suppressed from frowning and tried to maintain staying put in a thin line.

"We'll see," he said quietly. "We'll see about that."

I wondered what he meant by that, but it probably didn't mean anything. He's just trying to scare you, I reminded myself.

"Enough about that fag of yours," he sighed. "I want to know more about you."

Ha...

He opened his notebook and started to scribble randomly on it. Just to make himself look busy I guess. Boy, what a pathetic attempt.

"Can you dance??" He sounded a little too hopeful when he asked this.

I wondered what was up with the _random _questions, but I couldn't help but answer them secretly in my head.

Of course I can't dance. Did I look like the type?

"What is the first thing you notice about a guy?"

His smile. A warm feeling came in my heart when I thought of the smiles Sora would give me every time he saw me. His smiles always made me happy inside. Always.

"What's the second thing?"

His eyes. I thought of Sora's crystal blue ones.

"What would you consider to be the perfect gift?"

Not sure actually. Something that comes from the heart.

Axel was silent now. For some odd reason, it feel weird that it was quiet all of a sudden.

_What? No more questions? Good. _

I was able to concentrate now, but that thought was quickly shattered when he began talking again.

This time though, his questions were a little more eccentric; questions that didn't make any sense to me as to something he'd ask.

"Have you ever loved someone?"

Maybe.

"What does it feel like to love?"

I could feel his intense gaze on me. I couldn't help but to steal a quick look at him. His eyes lost the playfulness and he wasn't smiling that evil grin of his.

I looked back at my sloppy handwriting and remained calm.

"Did you ever get your heart broken?"

Broken...I mused over the thought, but I didn't want to think about it too much. I lowered my eyes as my lips curled into a thin frown.

"How'd it feel?"

His voice softened and became more serious.

"What did it feel like when you wanted something so bad, but you couldn't get it?"

Where were these questions coming from?

"Do you know what it feels like to get hurt?"

I wish he's stop asking me these questions. My screeching silence was not enough for him. He kept asking me things and I so desperately wanted him to shut up.

Ironically, just as I thought this, his endless questionnaire ceased. It was silent now between the two of us. This was what I wanted, but now that filled my mind with his nonsense crap questions, it was hard to focus.

It seemed strange to me that he'd come here, sit next to me, then ask me things. I expected him to do something bizarre and irritating, but he didn't. Well, not yet at least.

By the time the class was over, I was pissed at myself for not understanding anything. I should've just gone to the professor for help, but I didn't - I was just so tired and bummed out to do so.

Axel waved a hand and directed a lasting smile at me. Disgust held my eyes as a grimace dwelled upon my face while I watched him leave. I half expected him to do something, like stalk me, but he didn't. Not that I am complaining. It just seems strange because, knowing the kind of person he is, well, it just seemed a bit off.

I bet he has another scheme formulating in his evil mind. I just have to watch myself.

---

I walked to the desolate payphone outside the building to give my paranoid mom a quick call. Of course, she was more than elated to hear my voice. We talked some, and she asked me the same things as last time. "How are you?" or "Have you made any good friends yet?" even "Stay away from guys that I have not met"

I, on the other end of the phone line, would respond with the usual "I'm fine" or "Yes, I've have good friends" (which is a lie...almost) and "Yes, mom. I will stay away from boys. Don't worry" (which of course, was harder than I thought it would be).

"Sora wanted to talk to you," my mother informed me as I coiled my index finger around the phone cord. Hearing Sora's name grabbed my attention and I immediately perked up.

"Really? Is he with you right now?" A small smile crept on my face as I imagined the sound of his voice again.

"He was. But he left."

Shoot.

My smile faltered somewhat.

"Oh..."

After I hung up, I quickly inserted a few more coins into the slot and punched in the digits to Sora's cell phone. The repeated ring on the other end kept me in suspense.

_C'mon pick up, please pick up...pick up the phone!!! _

"Hey---"

"Sora!" I exclaimed happily, but was dumbfounded when it was just his away message for his voicemail.

"---I'm not here right now, so just leave me a message."

I sighed as the tone beeped, indicating for me to say something.

"Hey Sora," I began, keeping my gaze at the cracked concrete beneath me. "I'm calling from a payphone right now, and well, until I find another way of calling long distance, I will call you."

I sighed to myself. _Stupid cell phone of mine can't make any damn long distant calls....what a petty excuse for a phone. _

I continued on before my time to talk ran out, "I hope you and Riku are doing fine. Having fun? Well, I miss you guys. Bye."

Reluctantly I placed the phone on the receiver then trudged back to my dorm room.

---

I flung my things beside the desk then plopped myself onto the chair and let out an exaggerated sigh. Only about three-fourths of the days was gone and I had done nothing productive. I guess it would be the perfect time to study and whatever since neither Paine or Rikku were in the room.

Opening the text books, I began reading them. I started out with Calculus since I was so bad at it. But just by looking the x's and y's was enough to make me drossy. It was so boring and I hated it. I still never really understood the point of taking it anyway...

The door opened and I knew it was Rikku since she was talking gallingly on her cell phone. She smiled at me as she ended the conversation.

"Hey!" she greeted me. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thanks for asking." It was nice to see a familiar face instead of Paine's gloomy one.

"Are you busy?" she asked as she tilted her head to see behind me, looking at the untouched textbooks.

"Um, no not really." I didn't want to study at the moment anyway. Without turning around, I closed the dumb math book with one hand.

"Great! So, I was wondering if you'd want to come to the pool with us?"

Pool? And who was _us?_

"Us?" I asked for clarification.

"Oh you know, my friends, and maybe Paine."

"Well..."

When she saw the doubt in my face, she prodded, "Please! You have to. It'll be a lot of fun."

"I know but---"

"I always see you stuck in here."

"Yeah, but, it's just---"

"Please!"

I sighed and by looking at her pleading face, I couldn't refuse.

"I guess I could come, but I don't have a bathing suit."

Rikku's face brightened at the fact that I was going to join her. I just hoped I didn't make a mistake...

"Oh, that's alright. I might have another one you can borrow." She walked over to the dresser and fumbled through some clothes and was elated when she pulled out a two piece bathing suit.

Automatically, my lips curled into a deep frown when I saw it. Not that it wasn't pretty or anything, it was just....a bikini? Me in a bikini?

"Here you go," she said as she handed it to me. She saw my frown and inquired, "Something wrong?"

"A bikini?"

She nodded.

"I don't know...I feel uncomfortable wearing one." I looked at the aquamarine two piece bathing suit and tried to imagine myself in it.

"Kairi," Rikku began, "You'll look fine."

"Who else did you say was coming?"

I hoped Axel wasn't on the list.

"My friends."

Why, I asked myself, is she being so vague?

"Kairi, you can't back out now!!!" she placed her hands on her hips and looked at me intently.

"Fine..." I muttered.

I just hoped that I didn't make a dumb decision on deciding to go.

Rikku told me where to find the pool and said that she had to get there early, so she left.

After she left, I reluctantly slipped into the bikini and put my clothes on top then walked as slowly as I could to the pool.

---xxx---

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would have been. I met some of Rikku's friends: Yuffie, Tifa, Yuna, and a few others. They all seemed so happy to be together. It kind of reminded me of Sora and Riku.

The others splashed around in the pool (indoor pool, thank goodness) while I lazily sat on one of the chairs and read a magazine that Rikku had brought. Of course the others insisted that I come join them, but I wasn't in the mood.

I sighed as I flipped the page of the celebrity gossip-filled magazine. It wasn't too interesting in my opinion, but hey, I was bored.

But the whole time, my mind couldn't stop nagging me.

_You should be studying right now! Stop reading that garbage. _

Oh please. Whatever. I was just so brain dead and emotionally/mentally stressed out, I didn't want to think about studying at the moment.

A dark shadow cast upon my outstretched legs and the top half of the magazine.

I looked up slowly.

His blue eyes held a certain playful innocence. A few drops of water dripped from the ends of his spiky hair and plopped carelessly onto my legs.

"What?" I grumbled at his cheery smile.

"Don't you want to join us?" he asked, motioning at the pool behind him.

"No, _Roxas_, I don't. Now move, you're blocking my light." I peered down at Rikku's magazine and held my gaze at the bubbly text despite the fact that my eyes were about to explode from reading another word.

But, of course, he didn't move. He stayed put and asked, "Are you sure? It'll be fun."

"Fun?" I shot a hot glare at him, lowering my magazine on my lap. "Fun? You think being in a pool with _you _would be _fun_?"

I could see the doubt forming upon his face. His smile vanished only to be replaced with a deep frown. "Sorry," he muttered and walked away.

I watched him walk around the edge of the pool and to the opposite side, right across from me. The only thing that was between us was some pavement and the pool. I rolled my eyes when he sat in a lounge chair just like mine. He kept his gaze with mine and held it.

What was his problem?

I snorted in disgust and went back to reading the magazine. After a moment or so, I couldn't hold the temptation to sneak a peek at what he was doing. Just out of curiosity, because well you know, if he was so sure that going into the pool was so much fun, why the hell wasn't _he_ in there himself?

My eyes widened in surprise when I saw him holding some random magazine.

What...was he? Was he trying to mock me? I know it's totally normal for other people to be reading magazines at the same time, but when I squinted to see the cover of his magazine, it was no doubt a chic's magazine.

My lips curled to a fragile upside-down smile when he peered over at me from the top of his magazine. I could feel his eyes boring into mine.

I closed the magazine and watched helplessly as he did the same. He quickly grabbed it as I grabbed mine.

What the hell?

Stupid boy and his childish games.

I stuck a tongue at him. He smiled and did the same.

Pissed, I tossed the magazine aside and crossed my arms over my chest.

To no one's surprise, he shamelessly mimicked me. I would slap that gregarious smile of his face if he was close enough. That moron.

"Kairi," Rikku called from the pool. She came to the edge of the pool and asked, "What's wrong? You look upset."

I uncrossed my arms and pointed at the devilish demon. "_That_. Why is_ that_ thing here?"

She turned around to see where I was pointing then looked back at me. "Who? Roxas?"

I nodded, trying to hold in my anger.

"He's not bothering you is he?" she inquired, ignoring my question.

"He better not," I grumbled.

"Kairi, c'mon. You should come into the pool. Forget about him. He's just over there, doing his thing."

How I tried to resist a hysterical laugh.

"Fine," I muttered and hoisted myself up from the chair. I walked over to the shallow part of the pool and walked in slowly. The cold rush of the water shocked me at first, but as I got deeper in, it didn't feel so bad. The water was calming actually. I felt as if the cool water was melting my stress away, taking them to the bottom of the pool and never to be seen again. Rikku smiled as I got in and swam back to her circle of friends.

It was strange. I hadn't been in a pool for so long. The ocean waters though, back at Destiny Island were so much better than this chlorine invested pool, but it still felt great. I didn't go in too deep. The boundaries lay on the shallow parts of the pool, where the water only reached a little bit over my knees. I sat down and began to blow bubbles in the water. It was so much fun, I didn't know why I didn't get in earlier.

"Hey," his voice greeted me from behind.

I twirled around, craning my neck to see his ugly face peering down at me as he stood behind me.

"What?"

"Having fun?" he asked, kneeling down to my level.

"No." Well, it wasn't all a lie. I mean, I was having fun until he came along...

"Lets go over there," he said, obviously referring to Rikku and her friends. They seemed to be preoccupied with themselves, laughing and talking.

"Not with you, no," I informed him with a certain level of sternness buried in my voice.

He let out a dramatic sigh and placed a hand under his chin, with his elbow resting on his knee. God, did I wish he wasn't kneeling beside me...

All the did was look at me. And it bugged the hell out of me.

I looked down into the rippled water to see my distorted reflection.

"C'mon," he insisted.

I shook my head. "No."

I wanted to go though, it was just...I couldn't.

"What can I do to convince you?" He edged in closer to me.

"Nothing. Just get the hell out of my face," I retorted angrily. And with that, I pushed him away from me. He fell back on his ass, a wave of water splashed over me as he fell.

I looked at him with mixed anger and annoyance. He just didn't want to leave me alone.

He sat down with his hands placed behind him and his knees submerged from the water.

"I see how it is," he said mischieviously.

And with ridiculous speed, he grabbed my hand from the water and jerked me up to my feet. His fingers wrapped around my wrist and tightened them when he pulled me in closer to him. He dragged me forcefully towards the other girls. Water splashed all around us as he took me in deeper with him.

"Let go of me!" I cried when I couldn't control myself. He was stronger than me and I couldn't resist his force. "Stop it! I can't----"

But it was too late.

He had brought me in to the other side. My feet couldn't feel the bottom on the pool and the water slapped me against my face. Water escaped into my mouth and eyes, stinging me, making me gag and choke.

Panic submerged me. All over. I felt numb and scared. I could hear the sounds of the world drowning out as my whole body was pushed underwater. All I could see were blurry images of people's legs as a cloudy fogginess hindered my eyesight. My hair surrendered to the water as it poured into my ears. I tried to kick upwards to the surface, but my efforts were useless.

My arms tried to find something to hold onto and my only option was Roxas. I could feel him his arms reaching for me, trying to pull me up.

I clung onto him hard when I finally got a breath of air, so hard that I think my nails were making imprints into his skin. I wrapped my arms around his neck, as if I was hugging him. I choked, trying to spit out the water that came into my mouth, as I rested my chin upon his warm shoulder.

I closed my eyes, trying to tell myself that I wasn't drowning anymore, that it was all right.

His arms closed in around my lower waist and held me tight. I could feel his body pressing further onto mine.

When my spasmodic breathing ceased, only then did he utter a few words. In my ear, he whispered with a genuine sincerity, "I'm so sorry."

I was relieved when I felt the floor of the pool. We were on the shallow part where the water level was where I could withstand it. The water only came up to my waist.

My arms were still around him and I didn't let go. Not because I didn't want to (trust me, I did), but I was too mortified to do so.

But when he ran his hand through my drenched hair, that's when I snapped back to reality.

I pushed him off of me and gave him a cunning glare.

"Don't ever touch me again," I ordered through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry, Kairi," he began, "I didn't know you couldn't swim. I just thought----"

I cut him off, not wanting to hear it. "Save it. Just don't even bother."

I looked over his shoulder to see Rikku. She was too busy that she didn't see what had happened- which I was sort of grateful for.

He stayed put as he watched me walk to the girls' bathroom. He knew better than to follow me and flower me with apathetic apologies and whatnot. He knew it wouldn't fix anything,

Stupid moron...why'd he have to do that to me...Why did he have to drag me in and...

I just didn't have the desire to reminisce on it further.

I was the only one in the girls' bathroom when I entered it. It was a good thing though because I just wanted to be by myself.

I felt so dirty as I washed myself in one of the shower stalls. I think I murdered the soap bar when I smeared it all over my body.

_He freaking touched me and I held onto him. _

I shuddered involuntarily at the thought of his warm skin embracing mine.

The beating of water against the tiles sounded as I watched the soapy suds whirl down the drain.

Great. I wasn't alone. Someone was here too.

Whatever. I could still cry with the shower covering my sobs.

Taking in a deep breath, I tried to calm myself down. My body was still shaky and tense after what happened, but the hot water relaxed me somewhat.

Closing my eyes, I took another breath.

The sound of the curtain pulled back from behind me made me jerk my eyes open and twirl around.

My face aghast, he came in and closed the curtain once again. Turning his attention to me, his evil, glistening emerald eyes gazed into mine. I noticed that all he had was a dangerously loose white towel around his waist that he held with one hand.

"You got spare shampoo?" he asked as he walked closer to me.

His fiery red hair limped from being wet, drops of water trickled down his pallid skin.

I turned away and shut my eyes, tight.

_He's just an illusion. _

As if to confirm my thought, I glanced over my shoulder and saw him grinning at me.

_Damn it, he's real. _

"I didn't know you owned a bikini," he remarked. I could hear him approaching me, closer and closer. "Too bad you don't have much of a body..."

I grimaced.

"Leave me alone," I pleaded, turning to face him. The warm water and steam from the running shower seemed to engulf me, taking me in. I felt a little dizzy and sick.

His towel fell to the floor. He looked at me and lamely said, "Oops."

I covered my eyes with my hands as quick as I could.

That freak. He _deliberately _let go of his towel.

He let out a small laugh. "Can't handle my manlihood?"

I said nothing because I lost my voice. I was on the verge of tears.

He reached for me, then pinned me down onto the wet tile floor. Carefully hovering over my body, he placed his hands parallel to my head.

The shower was still on and the steam only grew bigger around us; regardless, I could still see his cruel grin.

This was it, I thought.

Here I am about to get raped in the freaking shower (of all places), and I was too weak and shocked to do anything about it.

**-End chapter- **

Sorry for the late update. I hope you like what you're reading so far. Critique is welcome XD

Thank you so much for reading my story, I really appreciate your time.

Please leave a review telling me what you think. Anything you like? Don't like?

I hope that the following chapter will finally get the twist, meaning, the turning point in the story. It'll be fun XD

Thanks again,

-SD

**7/18/09**: Hey guys~ I just wanted to thank you all for the very encouraging reviews. I have CH 6 almost ready. Something came up, so I might post it sometime next week. Thanks for waiting :)


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Please read this carefully XD It might get a little confusing, but hopefully things will get clearer at the end, ja? Ja XD

_Chapter VI_

Steam fogged around us, obstructing my view. But very faintly, I could make out his thin outline through the steam as he leaned in closer to me. He was about to say something, but stopped when we both heard a chorus of worried voices echoing, growing louder and louder.

He let out a knowing sigh. "Next time," he whispered in my ear.

Then he planted a quick kiss on my frozen lips. I couldn't see him too well as he took his towel, pulled the shower curtain hastily aside, then scurried away. Only a few seconds seemed to pass by before I heard someone approaching me. The shower was still running as the water hit against me with a subtle force. It was like a waterfall drowning me. I could hear the water swirl noisily down the drain beneath me. My bleak eyes looked through the thick cloud of mist submerging me to look at the ceiling.

"Kairi?" Rikku asked with seeping confusion when she saw me sprawled awkwardly across the titled floor, with my arms disposed to the sides and my legs settled clumsily. "Kairi??"

I moaned to answer her, not wanting to talk because then it hit me. I saw a naked man. Gruesome images popped in my mind. It was so big and disgusting. I think I felt a little vomit coming up my throat. My stomach felt queasy and I wanted to cringe into a tight ball.

"Are you all right?"

Did I look _all right_ to her?

I said nothing, letting the running shower fill the silence between us. From my peripheral vision, I saw her walk carefully around me to turn off the running shower. She turned around to look at me. I was still gazing at the ceiling, and didn't bother to look away. Rikku knelt beside to, hoisting me to a sitting position and began talking in a worried tone. But all that was said was lost. I didn't hear a word she said...

---xxx---

The campus was empty as I walked to Reno's classroom. I findled my fingers together, in a sad attempt to ease my nervousness. I could see my lonely shadow against the floor as I trudged through the desolate hallways with a frown and an empty spirit. I wore my clothes on top of my wet bathing suit and my hair was damp. Drops of water wet the sides of my shirt, but I couldn't care about that at the moment. I felt dank and so clammy when the cold air made me shiver a little.

I stopped right outside his room. I noticed that the door was left ajar and from behind, I could hear things being shuffled around. I wondered what he was doing or if he was busy. Quietly edging closer, I knocked on the door twice and waited.

"Come in," I heard him say.

I pushed the door open and saw his back facing me. He was busy putting things in cardboard boxes that were propped upon his desk. He glanced over his back when he heard my footsteps. His eyes held a certain sadness in them. He forced a smile when he saw that I was his visitor.

"Oh, hello, Kairi."

He put down the book he was holding and turned to face me.

"Hi," I greeted nervously. I tried to look behind him, but he obscured my view. "I was wondering if we could take for a little bit. It's sort of important."

"Is it?" He asked, but I wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic. His brow had arched a little and his lips curled upside down.

I nodded. "It's about Axel. I was hoping that---"

He put a hand in front of me abruptly , making me stop.

"I'm busy packing." He looked at me hard. "It seems that I have been accused of something that I didn't do, or that there is no proof of. And now I am no longer a teacher here."

This was...a surprise. "Wait, you got fired?"

A guilt pang rang over me, considering the fact that I my rant to the dean probably got him in this position.

He sighed. "Yes, and now," he placed his hands on my shoulders and twirled me around. Then led me to the door, "if you will please leave."

I stuttered. "B-but, I had something really, really---"

Another sigh escaped his lips as he gently pushed me out of the classroom. I turned to face him with pleading eyes. If anyone could have helped me regarding Axel, my best bet was him. Or at least I thought it was. Axel had told me that they were brothers...

"You'll figure it out yourself."

And with that, he shut the door behind him, leaving me to ponder on my own about what to do.

---xxx--

My hopes were crushed. I was so confused and I didn't know what to do. Axel was getting out of line, and I was becoming more and more vulnerable to him. I was angry and scared at the same time. Angry at myself for getting myself into this kind of predicament and scared of what he was capable of doing. I walked back to my doom shivering and worrying.

I kept missing the keyhole when I tried to insert it into the lock when I approached my room. It took me a few attempts to get it right and when I flung the door open, I was greeted by a surround darkness and cool draft. I walked into the dark room and closed the door behind me. Slowly, I walked forward and saw a delicate outline of the open window. The white curtains rippled with the slight breeze from outside. I walked towards the nightstand beside my bed and turned on the lamp.

I sighed as I turned around, only to let out a gasp.

My eyes widened when I saw a pale, thin girl stand across from me. Her blue eyes bore into mine. I studied her face carefully. Her platinum hair was set on one of her shoulders and she wore a pallid blouse and light-blue jeans that were ripped at her knees. Her thin lips were in a straight line.

Neither of us said anything for a moment. I could tell she was analyzing me too. She curled a fragile finger around a wisp of her hair.

"Hi..." I said stupidly.

She ignored my greeting. "Kairi," she began bluntly in a soft tone. "I've been waiting for you."

"No kidding." I responded skeptically. "Are you a friend of----"

She cut me off before I could get my question across. Her voice grew a little louder, but not by much. "Tell me something."

This time, I evaded her statement. "How did you get in here?"

"Kairi---"

"And you know my name?" I said more in suspicion. Heh, stalker much?

I could see the annoyance growing in her eyes. She gave me a cold stare. It was clear that I wasn't going to get any answers from her. We stood across from each other with another enduring silence.

"Tell me," she began in her quiet voice. I had to strain my ears to hear her. "Who do you love?"

I followed her gaze trail down to her hands. I noticed that she held something in her feeble hands. She stared down hard at it before slowly turning it around to show me it.

It was the photo of Sora, Riku, and I; the same one that I had shown Rikku when we first meet. It was always in my suitcase, but now it was in her grasp. I felt a little angry that she went through my things, but I was baffled as to her motives as well.

She repeated her question. "Who do you really love?"

Looking at me, she pointed at Sora on the picture. "Is it him?"

I looked at her with a complex expression. What was this? Why was she asking me?

"No?" She tilted her head in disbelief at my silence. Her finger moved to Riku in the picture. "What about him?" She walked towards me, still holding the picture, and looked at me square in the eye. "Axel?" Her voice was almost inaudible. "Then...who else could it be?"

I looked into her intimidating eyes and her set face. I could feel her breath on my skin.

"Roxas, maybe?" She pulled away from me, but only a few inches away.

She tossed the photo aside. It fluttered noiselessly onto the floor. I looked at it, wanting to pick it up. I could see the hatred forming in her eyes, and consuming her. It was almost palpable. I winced at the cold glare she gave me.

"I think," I began when I got the courage, "that there are some misunderstandings."

She shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

"Look, Roxas and I...we're not even friends to begin with." I tried to explain, but it was conspicuous that my words weren't reaching through to her.

She gave out a forced laugh as she backed away from me a little. "That doesn't matter. You're talking with him and all, aren't you?"

I laughed uncomfortably, trying to show her that this was just something to laugh about. But her bitter look made me stop immediately.

"You think you can just take whoever you want and---"

"It's not like that!" I exclaimed, interrupting her.

"I didn't think that you would----"

"You don't even know who I---"

"I don't think I need to---"

"--And you can't just come into my room any time---"

"Who are you to tell me what to do---"

"You know what---"

Before I could finish what I was about to say, the girl whirled around when the door opened. With a harsh flare of her hand, she sent this invisible, palpable wave. I saw in horror to see a very sulken Paine stopped midway. Her red eyes were frozen, glaring at the two of us. Her lips were curled into a heavy frown. She stayed in place and seemed like she was a mannequin.

"What did you..." But the words weren't coming out.

The girl turned to me just as quick. "I'll deal with her later," she said then added, "then the rest..."

She placed her hand to my forehead. Right at her touch, I felt a cold numbness take over me. I tried to push her away, but my arms went limp. My vision began to blur and I felt dizzy. My legs couldn't hold me up any longer. I slouched down, her arms catching me before I hit the ground and lost complete consciousness.

---xxx---

I felt a cold draft sweep past me as I fluttered my eyes. My vision was blurry and fogged as I found myself staring blankly at the ceiling above me with lights flickering against it. A foreign coldness washed over my legs as I started to gain full consciousness. I gasped when I saw my bare legs crossed over one another. I sat up straight on the couch I was on and stared at myself. I wore a short black skirt and a tight tank top to match.

I was musing over this when a towel hit me in the face. It then plopped against my thighs, where I could feel it's clammy, cold surface rub against me.

"What the...?"

I grabbed the disgusting cloth and held it away from me.

"Get to work Red Head," a gruff man commanded me as he stood in the door way.

"Oh, sorry...," I muttered.

Hurriedly, I got up and walked out of the dark room and into the hall which led me to....the rest of the strip club.

The club was hot and the air felt sticky when I walked across the sleek floor in the hard-to-walk-in black high heels. Loud music blared from the speakers, making me almost deaf. I glanced around and saw mostly men, some young and some older, sitting at the bar or tables, getting humped by woman. A nauseous feeling began to dwell in my stomach.

Some of the strippers had pretty faces, while others...well, not so much. I tried not to look at the almost nude woman on the poles. It made me feel uncomfortable for some reason. I went to a clutter filled table and began balancing the empty beer mugs and glasses in my arms to take back to the kitchen. Then, I came back out to wipe it with the filthy cloth. I didn't see how this was going to clean the table. Well, it would have to do since there wasn't anything else.

I was stuck being the cleaning maid in this pathetic dump. Everyone made the mess while I cleaned up after them.

A few men took notice of me, but not for long. I continued to tune everything out as I wiped the ashes left from dead cigarettes and beer stains. I sighed as I took more glasses and dishes into the kitchen, continuously walking back and forth, back and forth. I don't know many hours passed by, but my hands felt worn out and my feet were killing me from walking in tall high heels.

I was busy wiping a table, furiously trying to remove the stains. I don't know why I even bothered to make the tables so clean...

"Excuse me, Miss?"

It's not fair that I got stuck working here.

"Miss?"

I turned around to see a guy sitting in a chair by himself at a table. Was he talking to me? I looked at him and he motioned me over.

I sighed as I walked over to his table. I leaned down and began wiping the table top in a circular motion. As I tried to focus on what I was doing, I couldn't help to notice what strange look he had. He wore black pants and an unbuttoned white dress shirt accompanied with a black tie. His blazing red hair seemed a little too bizarre to me. In my peripheral vision, I saw him reach into his pocket to take out a cigarrette and lit it. A cloud of smoke hit my face when he exhaled a moment later.

Great. Like we need more smoke in this hazardous wasteland.

The strong, overpowering smell began to overwhelm me. I couldn't take it for a second more, so I turned to leave. But as I did so, I felt him grip my wrist, holding me back.

"What?" I said to him, looking into his grinning emerald eyes.

"Care to join me?" He asked with the cigarrette dangling from his mouth as he waved at the glasses of Coke on the table.

Pfft.

"I'm still working," I told him, holding the rag in my hand to show him.

I snatched my wrist from his grasp and moved on to another empty table. I placed plates and bowls carefully upon my arms and headed to the kitchen for what seemed like to be the thousandth time.

"Red Head!"

It was the guy who I saw when I woke up. He was my boss....or something like that.

"Yeah?" I asked indifferently. He stood there, blocking my way as I wondered what his problem was.

"We have an issue," he told me with a certain urgency in his voice.

"Oh yeah?" I said, not really caring. My arms were starting to get sore from holding the dishes.

"We're short on girls." There was a gleam in his eyes.

Oh hell no.

He continued on, "And so, you are now getting temporarily promoted."

"What?!" I fumed. "No! I don't think I'm ready to get on guys and---"

"You start now. I'll pay you overtime," he said, grabbing the dishes from my hand. He headed into the kitchen to put them away, the doors flapped back and forth as he went it.

Ah damn it.

I just stood there in disbelief. He came out a moment later and forcefully turned me around to face the horror.

I looked around the tables and guys to see if there was a decent, modest looking one that I could chat with and whatever. My eyes locked onto the guy who I talked to earlier. He looked at me, smiling. He motioned for me to come to him again with a wave of his hand. I wasn't the only one who noticed him trying to get me to go over to him. My boss, or something like that, pushed me from behind. "Go! Now!!" He whispered sternly into my ear.

Damn it.

I walked over to him thinking how this was going to go down. When I approached him, another girl came over at the same time. She nudged me a little, making me move to the side. I looked at her, sort of surprised. Her long black hair fell down back. Her boobs were practically popping out from her bra. And her thong was so thin, it barely covered her.

"I got this one," she said to me.

Relief came over me. Yes, thank you.

"I'd like the Red Head," he told her, looking directly at me.

And then distress crashed down upon me once more.

Her face almost fell. She looked me up and down, and I think I almost did too. Her body was a hell lot...more than mine. She looked confused, but didn't argue and left to find some other 'lucky' man.

He smiled at me widely. "Why don't you sit down?"

I pulled a chair across from him and sat down, only the table with two Cokes upon it was separating us. I crossed my ankles across each other and pulled them back underneath the chair, so that he couldn't try something. I had both hands underneath my thighs so he couldn't try to hold them or whatever. I leaned all the way back in my chair and sat up straight.

He shook his head and let out a little chuckle. "I meant on my lap."

Shit.

I shook my head. _No, I will never sit on you... _

He cocked his head a little to the side. "You don't want me to complain, do you?"

Blackmailer...

_So? Go ahead, complain you bastard. _"Fine."

"Really?" He said, arching one of his brows in fake surprise. "All right."

He got up, and move in slow deliberate movements. He walked slowly, as if trying to show that I could still change my mind.

_Whatever. Just hurry up and leave so I can go somewhere else. Away from you. _

I got up too, and was about to get away, when he grabbed my wrist again.

The fool. He really needed to stop doing that. I tried to break free from his grasp, but he held on tighter this time.

He let out a long, exaggerated sigh. "Don't make this harder than this has to be."

_Just shut the hell up. _"Whatever. Let go of me."

"Not yet," he said as he placed his free hand behind my back.

He edged closer to me, so close that I the smell of his cologne and the smoke from cigarette almost knocked me out. He sat in the chair that I was sitting in, and forced me on his lap with my legs on both sides of him. I purposely let my arms hang to the sides so that I didn't have to touch him. Instead, he took each one and wrapped them around his neck. If I could, I would have probably choked him to death. His warm hands clasped around my legs and smiled at me again. He took his dying cigarette from between his lips and blew another cloud of smoke. My lips curled into a deep frown as I tried to stop myself from suffocating.

His eyes narrowed down to mine. "Oh, sorry," he apologized. "You want some?"

Before I could tell him no, he took his cigarette and pushed it into my mouth. The disgusting end of the cigarette almost burned my lips.

"There, don't you look great."

What the hell. I spat it out and it dropped in-between us. He picked it up and tossed it aside, then focused on me once more.

He reached behind me to grab his glass.

"Can I get a name?" he asked curiously.

_Yeah, right._ "Kairi," I said after a moment's thought, "You_?" Not that I really care what your name is..._

He didn't hesitate to tell me. "Axel."

What a dumb name...

It was hard to see his face clearly in the dark, but his eyes were gleaming and I could see his wide smile. I wanted to slap him and get off of him. But, of course, I stayed put.

"You seem out of place," he commented, still smiling that stupid smile. He drank some of his Coke, or beer?, and waited for me to say something.

"Thanks," I muttered in an insolent tone, as if I already didn't know that.

But it turned out that he was talking to himself more than me.

He sighed. "She screwed up...you were supposed to be---"

"What the hell are you talking about?" I interrupted his thinking.

"Huh?" He blinked his eyes. "Oh, nothing..."

"Yeah." I sighed bitterly. "Can I go now?"

He completely ignored the question. "So, what is an innocent looking girl like you doing in a place like this?"

_Wouldn't you like to know... _"I come here for the money. Supposedly, you make a whole lot more money than working at a store or restaurant... "

"The money, huh?"

Duh. Isn't that the most obvious answer to that dumb question?

"Yeah, that's right." I wanted to just spit in his face...

"What's the money for?" He asked as his right hand slowly began to slide down my leg.

"College." I tried not to pay attention to his warm handing making it way up to my knees again.

"How long have you been working here for?" It looked as if he was trying to ask an endless list of questions to distract me.

"A few weeks." His other hand was traveling down my other leg.

"Did you make enough?"

"Not really. I got stuck being...like the janitor of this dump," I explained, looking down at the floor for a quick second.

He muttered, "Stupid girl didn't listen---"

"What?!" Is he calling me stupid? Well, I guess I am if I managed to get stuck with him, then yeah, I guess I am stupid.

"No, no. Nothing..."

_Right, whatever._

"How about I help you?" He offered me as his hands were now behind my back.

"How are you going to do that?" My brow arched in suspicion.

He removed his hands from me for a moment to dig into his breast pocket. He pulled out a roll of bills and flashed them before me. It looked like a hell lot of money. I was about to reach for it, when he caught my hand.

"This comes for a price," he said mischievously.

_Of course, you sick perv. _"What do you want?"

He placed the money back in his pocket and pretended like he had to really to think about it. I rolled my eyes.

"A few things..."

_Great. _"Yeah? Like?"

"Give me a kiss," he prompted eagerly as he took hold of my shoulders and tried to pull me closer to him.

_Oh God no! _"Hell no!!" I placed both hands on his chest and pushed away from him. Well, if I wanted to get a greater 'promotion' in the future, I would have to get used to servicing strange guys...not just the hot ones.

He grabbed onto my hands and waited until I was still.

"I'll give you $100 for one kiss," he offered with a sly grin implanted on his face.

That got my attention. Hundred dollars wasn't bad for just one...kiss. Right? I did a few calculations in my mind. I would have made that much money in a few hours, whereas here, just one kiss and I get it without really doing anything.

"No," I said to him, leaning in closer to him.

He looked surprised, but maintained his composure. "No?"

"I'll kiss you for $300." I had to raise the stakes. Even $300 wasn't what a kiss from me was worth, more like...$1000. Heh.

"Fine," he agreed. But then when he saw my hand laid out in front of him, he lowered it and said, "Kiss first."

I rolled my eyes. Fine...whatever. I just wanted to get over with it. I began to lean in when he exclaimed, "Wait!"

"What now?" I leaned back and looked at him angrily.

"I want you to have a drink with me first."

_What a waste of my time..._ "Maybe I don't want to get drunk." I mean, seriously, I bet it's really, really late at night...or extremely early in the morning?

He reached behind me for the other glass that were there then placed one in my hand. "It's just soda. C'mon. Just real quick."

I looked at him as if he was serious. He began to slowly drink his, waiting for me to drink mine. I looked at the fizz and ice that swam around in my glass. I guess I was a little bit thirsty and a sip or two wouldn't hurt. I gulped down half the glass when I had enough of it. He took it from me and placed it on the table with his empty glass.

"Ok, I'm ready now," he said.

_That was so...strange. _

Whatever. I quickly gave him a peck on his lips. I barely felt them because I was so fast about it. He looked at me unbelievably.

"You have to do it like you mean it," he snickered. I wanted to just knock him out and take all his money.

I cussed at myself secretly in my mind as I pressed my hands upon his torso and slowly moved them up to grab onto the collar of his white dress shirt and leaned in slowly towards him. I closed my eyes when my lips met with his because I didn't want to look at his face. I was about to pull back when his tongue slid into my mouth. My body became stiff all of a sudden. His tongue wrapped itself around mine and I felt too numb to pull away. His hand moved underneath my tank top and traveled up my back. My hands locked together around his neck as I pushed my body closer to his body. His hand ran through the back on my hair while I still clutched his shirt.

I couldn't believe I was kissing this guy. No matter how much I felt like stopping, I couldn't. My hands wouldn't let go of the collar of his shirt and I liked the warmth radiating from his body entangling me. But it wasn't my desire to kiss him. No, it was not that. My body felt almost paralyzed. Slowly, I could feel my breathing becoming more shallow. I opened my eyes with much effort, but they fluttered closed again. I broke the kiss by moving my head back just a little, but wasn't able to hold it up. Instantly, I collapsed onto his shoulder as I lost all feeling in my body. My arms slouched down, hanging down.

_The bastard. He drugged me... _

"Kairi?" Axel asked as he tried to get me to sit straight. "Hey, you OK?"

I couldn't answer him. A harsh dryness invaded my throat and my mouth would not move. He placed his warm hands underneath my thighs, and stood up as he held me steady. My arms dangled to the side and my legs occasionally brushed against his legs as he began to walk. My head was still set against his shoulder as I was still trying to figure out what was happening and why. Every sound meshed into one, slowly fading into silence. Drops of warm, moist perspiration dripped down my forehead. Heat pummeled through my body, making me uncomfortable and very thirsty. The loud hollering of my boss sounded in the background. He was probably yelling at Axel for taking me away. It was bothering me that I felt defenseless.

A cold rush of air relieved me when he walked out into the bitter night. It felt comforting. The only sound I heard was the honking of distant cars and Axel's shoes echoing against the asphalt of the road. He walked for a few minutes more before he stopped. He shifted my weight to his left arm as he did something with his right. I heard a _beep_ sound and then the sound of a car door opening. A muffled _click_ sounded and then he slid something. Maybe the driver's seat? I could not be sure.

Wait, no. What was he doing, taking me away?

My body was still numb and useless. I could not do anything to stop him. He gently placed me in the back seat of his car lying down. The cool leather's touch seemed to cease my body temperature by just a little bit. He slowly slipped his hand from under my neck to fix my legs which had fallen off the seat. My eyes refused to open no matter how hard I tried. This was so frustrating. I heard the familiar_ click _once more. I think he placed the seat back the way it was.

"Namine, don't take too long," Axel said bitterly. "And make sure you don't forget anyone."

"Yeah, I know," a female voice replied. Namine's I am guessing...

There was a sudden change in the atmosphere. The silence around me seemed to be...more silent and still. I couldn't explain it. An icy chill engulfed my body. My mind was still foggy and I couldn't understand what was happening.

Time elapsed slow. Real slow. The pain in my head throbbed nonstop and my body was still numb. Dryness overtook my throat. I felt like I was going to die from dehydration.

A moment later, the loud roar of the engine filled the silence. My body vibrated with the the consistent hum of the car. The car shook just a second when the passenger's side of the door opened then closed shut. The bitter coldness that I was feeling left me. My body began to sweat again and get really hot. The atmosphere seemed to return to normal. Or was it all just in my head?

I guessed that we were in a convertible by the way the wind violently hit the windshield of the car, which made it really noisy. Mixed with the wind, was Axel's muffled voice. However, I was still able to make out the words. Well, some of them at least.

"What the hell were you thinking, Namine?" he asked as he accelerated faster. My body shook a little more with the hum of the engine.

"Nothing. This was all your idea. I just did what you wanted," her quiet voice answered.

"You don't know shit," he retorted.

"Don't tell me that you don't remember what you told me! You said that you wanted her to dance in some club and---"

"All right. I remember, but I didn't mean it really...like now," he bellowed angrily. "And did you look at her? She looks like a saint compared to everyone else in there....You could have made her look a little more---"

"Well you should have been clearer. It's not my fault!" she exclaimed. "Make up your damn mind."

"Why don't you shut up before I give it to you big time," he grumbled.

A fake, nervous laugh escaped from Namine's lips. "You're hilarious."

They said nothing to each other for a few moments. But everything they had just said made no sense...at all. I was just grateful that the wind swirled around my body because I was burning up. I lost track of time for it seemed like years had past by when the ignition cut off.

I was again in Axel's arms, my cheek against his chest, and my legs dangled as he carried me. The atmosphere changed suddenly, like how it changed earlier. I was able to open my eyes just a hair and got a quick glimpse of where we were before my heavy eyelids closed. It seemed that we were in some kinda of hallway, but I wasn't too sure.

"Namine, open the door," Axel mumbled.

Namine unlocked the door and it creaked loudly when she swung it back. Axel carried me and placed me on the floor. He slipped his hand from underneath me and steadied my legs across the carpet. It was killing me that I had no control of my body and that I was helpless. Stupid drug didn't wear out entirely yet...

"We should change her clothes," Axel said. I stiffened at the thought. "I mean, what will her roommates think if they see her like this?"

"I guess...," Namine sighed tiredly. "But how are we going to do that?"

I didn't need to have my eyes open to see Axel grinning.

"Why don't you find something of hers from the dresser?" he commanded her.

Axel's hands carefully removed my painful high heels. Then he slid his warm hands from my ankle, up to my knees, then slowly stopped on top of my skirt. His fingers slipped underneath and lazily pulled it down. I felt the fabric slide off from my legs and disappear. A cool draft washed upon my legs.

"You got the clothes?" He asked Namine.

"Yeah, here," she replied. I heard a _swoosh _as the clothes hit against something...Axel's face probably.

"Get behind her, ok?" he instructed her as he took hold of my wrists and pulled me up to a sitting position. My head leaned against my shoulder while strands of my hair fell upon my face. "Make sure she doesn't fall back. And I want you to hold her arms up."

Namine grumbled something, but did was she was told. Her thin hands gripped my wrists and she held them in the air. Axel placed his hands underneath the edge of my top and heaved it carefully up my arms, leaving me in my underwear. Cold air brushed against my skin. The silence made me a little bit uncomfortable. I think I liked it when they were bickering with each other...

"Do you think we should give her a bath?" Axel asked Namine. I could feel an added warmth against my skin. Was that him? What was he doing? Leaning towards me?

"What?" Namine replied skeptically. "Why bother?"

Thank goodness, she will talk him out of the idea. The thought of Axel bathing me naked and helpless terrified me. If I was feeling hot before, I was even hotter now.

"She smells like beer and sweat," he answered, but with a hint of concern in his voice. Strange.

"Yeah, so? Your point?" Namine dropped my arms hastily. They fell hard against the floor, scraping the rough touch of the carpet in the process.

I felt like I was about to fall backwards, but Axel caught my shoulders. My head dangled back with my hair in a messy tangle.

"Take a good look at her face," he prompted her as he set me down onto the floor again. "Her cheeks are really red and she's sweating...a lot. Looks like she has a fever."

Namine heaved a heavy sigh. "It'll go away. Don't worry," I could taste the acidity in her voice.

"What kind of drug did you give me to make her drink?" His voice was sharp and angry.

"I don't know. Um...," she took a moment to think about it. "I just took what I could find in---"

"Fine. Whatever. It doesn't matter now," he said pissed off.

Namine snorted. "It's not like she'll die..."

"Shut up."

Namine did not shut up. "Well, if you're thinking about cooling her down in the bathtub, I'm _not_ volunteering to do that."

"This is all your fault," he grumbled. "Now what?"

"I already told you, stop worrying about it...gosh. You're such a pain."

"Just help me," he ordered her as he pulled me up to a sitting position once more.

A small sigh escaped from Namine's bitter lips. She sat behind me and made sure I didn't fall back as Axel reached behind me to unclasp my bra. I wished that I could have kicked him...

Before he could take it off completely, Namine spoke up quickly as she slapped his hands away and re-clasped my bra. "I have a better idea than dumping her in a tub of cold water."

"Oh yeah?" Axel sounded unenthusiastic to hear about her sudden suggestion. "And what would that be?"

"I'll put ice on her forehead instead. Trust me, it's less work and hassle."

"Yeah, but that's no fun," he argued.

"We don't have all the time right now for that," she counterclaimed. "I can't hold time for too long. It's dangerous..."

_Hold time?_ What does that mean?

Sighing, Axel agreed. "Ok. Fine....next time."

Instead of taking of what was left on me, he started putting on a shirt and pajamas on me.

Axel's cheery mood came back on again. "I didn't notice it until now, but you guys look a like if it weren't for the difference in hair color and chest size."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked from behind.

"Well, she has auburn hair and you have platnium. You have a bigger chest and she...well doesn't. If it wasn't for that, well you two would look a hell lot alike."

"So?"

"I was thinking of getting Vexen to hook her up just like he did for you," he explained as he tugged the shirt down to my belly. "It'll be a lot more fun when---"

"Huh..."

Axel let out a chuckle. "What? You don't remember that you were like her until I got you those implants?"

It was quiet for a moment as Axel struggled to pulled up my pajamas to my waist.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Namine finally said. Her voice was low and quiet.

"I think it's a great idea," he said, sort of tired. "You know, I'm a lot better at taking clothes off then putting them on girls."

Namine stood up when Axel finished putting on my clothes. He placed his arms underneath me then carried me to my bed.

"Can you get the ice from the vendor?" she asked him. "Please?"

It sounded like he was about to argue, but instead said nothing and left to go get it. Once he had left, Namine sat at the edge of my bed. Her added weight pressed that side of the mattress down.

"Kairi," she began with a sudden hint of irritation in her voice, "I can't tell you how much I hate you. I've never seen more of a stupid bitch than you before. It's just disgusting."

What the hell? Where was this sudden hate coming from? I've never seen her in my life before. Hell, I haven't even spoken a word to her yet.

"I want to just---"

"Here," Axel interrupted, unaware of what Namine was saying as he walked in again. "I wrapped it in a paper towel for you."

"Thanks," she muttered as someone placed the ice pack gently on my forehead. I'm guessing it was Axel since it seemed that Namine stayed put at the edge of the bed.

The sharp, intense coldness from the ice ceased the heat. I felt relieved almost. It seemed that the sweat slithering around my body slowed down. I tried to open my eyes again, but they still felt too heavy. Besides, it wouldn't be a good idea to let them know that I was still semi-conscious and that I was aware of what was going on...

Once the ice was on my head, Namine told Axel, "You can go do something else because this might take awhile."

"But---"

"No, really. You don't know how hard it is to take away some of her memories. And you're going to get bored. Trust me, I'd know."

_Take away my memories?_

"I'll keep you company," he offered half-heartedly.

She laughed sarcastically. "I don't _want_ your company. Besides, you'll be distracting me." I couldn't help but take note on how hard she was trying to get rid of him.

"Ok. Just hurry up. I'll be outside taking a smoke." And with that, he was gone, leaving me alone.

She sighed bitterly, "You must be wondering why you are in this situation right now."

You got that right.

"You've never worked in a strip club before, and yet..."

Um, no I've been cleaning tables for a long time, hoping to get on the poles. More money like that.

"....I made you forget everything that happened after you came her and made you believe that you've been working your ass off for weeks. So why did I just merely decide to put you there?"

What?

"I just wanted to see if I could make Roxas see what kind of slut you really are."

Roxas? Who's that?

"But, I couldn't get him to come to see you because I couldn't find him anywhere."

Ok...

"Damn it. Just damn." She flung her fist against the bed.

Seriously. What's this girl's problem?

She shifted her weight a little, trying to get comfortable. "It was getting too late, so I changed things up a little. Instead of you spreading your legs on guys and poles, I made you wait tables because if Roxas wasn't there, then taking that risk was utterly pointless." She paused to let out another laugh. "We can't have poor-little Kairi get hurt now, can we? Well, it wasn't easy making everyone think that you used to work there all the time, but I made it happen. Just change a few memories in people's minds and you basically have them thinking whatever. Almost that is."

I think she's lost her mind. And what kind of risk is she talking about?

"Axel found out...And well, he went in there to get you out before something 'bad' happened to you, not that I'd mind though. Of course I could have stopped everything and he could have gotten you out of there right away. But, no. It wasn't 'fun' enough for Axel so I suggested him to drug you and so he listened. Ha, and here we are now."

It was quiet again. Namine edged closer to me. Her thin hands brushed a few strands of my hair to the side of me face. "I don't see what he sees in you. Why does he like you so much?"

Again with her senseless talk.

"If only I could---"

"Namine, you done yet?" Axel interrupted again. His distant voice made me assume that he was waiting just out the door.

"Almost. I'll be there in a minute," she tried to sound nonchalant and sincere.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll wait outside then." His footsteps echoed down the hallway.

There was a sudden change in her attitude. "Don't worry, this won't hurt. I'm just going to make you forget everything that happened tonight and when you wake up tomorrow, you'll remember everything like it used to be."

She removed the watery towel with ice and placed her hand on my forehead instead. Pressure engulfed me suddenly. It made me really uncomfortable. I wanted to slap her hand off of me, but I was still paralyzed.

I fell into an endless state of unconsciousness, everything around me forgotten.

-**End Chapter**-

Did you like it? I hoped so. Please tell me what you think in your review. Your comments really encourage me to continue on with this :)

Anyhow, I'm sorry I couldn't post this earlier. Something came up, so it had to be put on hold. This is the longest chapter yet, hope the wait was worth it. XD Trust me, there is more to come. :P

Oh my, Namine. What is wrong with you?! Has she gone crazy?? I know that Kairi is not a very liked character among many fangirls (and boys?) so I'm thinking you'll (those who don't like Kairi too much....) like Namine for her strong dislike for Kairi, haha. Right, so now she's using her powers against others (she erases and makes up memories - more on that later on) Anyhow, more to come as to why Namine hates Kairi so much and why she's doing what she's doing. You have to keep reading to find out, don't miss it XD

I hope nothing was too confusing, but please tell me if anything is. I don't want anyone confused XD

Poor Kairi didn't get that $300. ;p

Hmm, since when did Axel really care for Kairi's well-being? Hmmmmm.....

Thank you so much for reading and those who have stuck with this story so far. I'm really thankful.

-SD


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter VII_

**~*~Namine~*~**

There she was, looking sick and weary with the color drained from her face. I figured there would be after effects to the drug given to her last night, but I didn't think she'd look like this. I could only see glimpses of her face from where I stood, carefully concealed from her view. Her eyes seemed red and puffy, her skin looked pasty and her auburn hair even looked dead, and I could see her breathing through her mouth with her lips parted just a bit. Her bag lounged upon her shoulder made it look like she was being pulled down because of it.

If she was someone else, I probably would have felt pity for her. But she's not. In fact, I didn't really care what condition she was in since I got what I wanted last night. It all depends on her if she doesn't want me to use it against her…

Heh. It wasn't easy though., after the hell Axel threatened me with when I left her. I rolled my eyes.

She wiped her nose with her soiled tissue as she gazed at the books on the shelf. I continued to watch her intently from behind the book shelf where I stood. I shifted the books to the right as she moved to keep an eye on her as I thought of a way to talk to her.

What would I say?

I thought of so many ideas last night, but they didn't seem to be the right approach.

"Excuse me," a hushed voice said from behind me.

I felt someone brush against my back as they passed me. It didn't matter to me who it was until it clicked whose voice that belonged to.

"Oh sorry," I managed to say before he left.

But he wasn't leaving. Nope. He stood a few feet away from me, idly passing his finger against random books as his eyes wondered elsewhere.

I didn't have to follow his gaze to know who he was looking at.

"What book are you looking for?" I dared to ask him.

Maybe he will hear me this time, or even look at me.

But he didn't. He was too preoccupied with watching the girl I was looking at too. I sighed inwardly, frustrated.

I tried once more. "Are you looking for something?" I said it a little bit louder than before, but not too loud since we were still in a library and I didn't want her to hear us from behind.

"You can say that," he said in a whisper. He didn't bother to glance my way. Instead, he moved idly along and turned down the aisle. I didn't know where he went but knowing that he was staring at her made me mad.

I shook my head.

_C'mon. Focus. Don't let it get to you. _

Why he came by to watch her had me puzzled, but I had think about it another time.

I turned to focus on her again. She was still there, looking through the books.

I took a deep breath. I can do this, I told myself.

Slowly, I walked down the aisle while keeping my gaze upon her. Upon approaching the aisle she was in, I stood there for a moment, wondering if this was a good idea. But the look on his face when I saw him staring at her moments ago just gave me more reason to go.

I edged closer towards her, but kept a reasonable distance between us.

I glanced upon the books she had been going through.

_Calculus. _

A smirk slipped upon my lips. Perhaps I have a plan now. Maybe.

She sighed with frustration and looked liked she was about to give up.

When I reached for a random math book, that's then she noticed my presence. She turned to me and I caught her eye.

I looked carefully in her eyes to see if there were any signs of recognition, or of remembering anything from last night, but there was none.

"Oh, hello," she greeted me in a very congested voice.

"Hi," I said in return with a deceiving smile plastered on my face.

I hated the grin she gave me. It just made my disgust for her grow inside me. How can she smile while looking like that? Whatever. The sickness will probably wear off soon.

Unfortunately.

I broke the gaze because I didn't want to look at her stupid grin for too long. I flipped through the math book I had to random pages. But before I could give it a quick look, she spoke again.

"You need help in math too?"

I smiled that fake, but believing smile again only because I had to. "No, I just need a book for the student I am tutoring."

"Oh, you're a tutor?" She paused to wipe her runny nose.

I nodded as I continued to tell my lie. "Yeah, I just thought a few more books would help."

"Do you think you can help me too?" A pleading look glimmered in her dull eyes.

Great. She took the bait.

If I was her tutor, she would need me. There would be a reason for her to see me. And we could spend _a lot_ of time together. I didn't want to be her "friend" unless it really came down to it. Just wanting her to need and see me was all I needed. And once that happens, I can let everything go into place.

Hopefully.

"Of course," I said with a satisfied grin on my face.

I shut the book and told her that we could start right now. Excited, she followed me to a far away table in the other corner of the library as she told me how she tried to find the "right book" to help her. The rest of her talk I tuned out completely because I was uninterested.

When we reached the table, I sat on the side where I could overlook the rest of the library while her back was facing it. I stole a quick glance or two to see if he was around, watching. But he wasn't anywhere.

I had no choice but to listen to her talking again.

"…I haven't seen you around."

"Oh, yeah. I guess that's quite unfortunate," I told her.

"Yeah," she sighed.

"Something wrong?" I inquired, though I didn't quite care.

She shook her head. "No, no."

I didn't want to ask this, but I did. "Are you sure? You want to talk about it?"

"It's all right, really," she informed me.

Good. Because I really don't want to hear you talking.

"Oh, I don't think I told you my name. I'm Kairi," she smiled again.

What a fool. It's too late for introductions, don't you think?

Whatever.

"I'm Namine," I told her smiling in return because I had to keep up with this façade. I wanted to figure out a few things so I began to ask her a few questions.

"So," I said, "what are you majoring in?"

I took a moment to think. I could see her thinking real hard, with her the look in her eyes.

"I…I don't…remember," she said slowly, in disbelief.

"That's all right, I'm sure it'll come to you soon," I assured her.

Or not. I guess I made her forget what she came here for. Oops.

Not.

I probably would have asked her other petty questions, but I refrained from doing so.

"How about I help you with Calculus," I suggested as the look of disbelief began to diminish.

"I have a math test coming soon and I'm really behind," Kairi said as she stood up and began to pull her chair closer to me.

Wait, what? No!

There was a reason why I had her sit on _that_ side of the table.

Great. But I had to suck it up and let her sit beside me, facing the rest of the library as well.

She bent over her chair towards the floor as she rummaged through her bag. I rested my head upon my shoulder and rolled my eyes as I watched her. When she sat up, I had on a happy face again. She opened her notebook to a clean page and told me what she needed help in. Something about equations regarding sinusoids...

I just stared at her after she turned to a page with some abstract graphs on it. A strange array of loops and waves.

What the hell was this? You call this _math?_ Hell, it looked like a foreign language…

I had to pretend to know what I was doing so I opened the random book I had pulled from the bookshelf and began to scan the index, pretending to look like I knew what I was looking for.

I turned to a random page number listed in the index and stared at the page.

I had no idea what the hell it meant and after quickly reading through the paragraph I was still confused.

Kairi waited patiently for me. It made me a bit nervous. I twisted the hem of my shirt underneath the table thinking of the wonderful mess I got myself into.

So much for this idea.

I looked at her and wondered what to say.

"You know, I think you should take a break. You look awful."

A small laugh escaped through her mouth. "Yeah, thanks. But I really need to catch up."

"The teacher won't help you?"

It took her a moment before answer. I wondered what went through her mind. "No, it's not that. I just…"

She didn't know what to say and I didn't push it. Besides I already knew. She probably felt guilt after knowing that Reno quit possibly because of her, something she did. Or rather…something else.

"You know, I think I will get going. Maybe you're right, Namine. I should take a break." She tossed her notebook in the bag and began to get up.

Damn it.

I'm getting nowhere.

You know what, forget this. I'm going to do what I wanted to do before.

"Wait, Kairi. There's something I wanted to talk to you about," I grabbed her arm and gently tugged her down to her seat again, even though I wanted to dig my fingers through her flesh.

"Yeah?" She waited expectantly as she placed her bag on her lap. Her eyes became redder and her skin looked so translucent, I could see her veins.

Heh, even if things don't go well, I can still make her forget it. So what did I have to lose?

She looked at me expectantly, and waited patiently for me to speak.

"You seem like a smart girl," I began in a hushed voice so no one else around us could overhear. "So maybe you'll listen to me."

She said nothing. Or maybe was too tired to say anything.

"Do you agree that there are certain powers that need to be in control, and never be used?"

"Um…"

"What would you say about stopping time temporarily or even looking through people's memories and even doing whatever you want with those memories?" I leaned in closer to her so she could see the seriousness in my eyes.

"Well," she said, "I do suppose that would be bad in some ways. I'd love to talk to you about superpowers and comic books and all that, but I really have to go. I feel really dizzy right now."

Just. Forget it.

Fine. Another time.

"Yeah, sure. I understand," I said as she got up and gave me a weary goodbye smile.

I watched her leave the library then scowled.

This was not the way I planned for things to go. At all.

I hated messing with people's powers and stopping time and everything. It's just dangerous, but not only that it---

"Oh Namine," his voice startled be from behind as he seated himself in Kairi's seat.

"What Axel?" I snarled at him. I crossed my arms over my chest and turned my body away from him.

He said nothing, just let out a whimsical laugh. "Stop acting so ingenuous."

My hands balled into tight fists. I got up abruptly to walk away but he caught my arm before I could get up halfway and pulled me down onto his lap.

"Why are you so upset? Hmm?" He whispered quietly into my ear as he slid his arms around my waist.

As if he didn't know. And I wished he didn't because if I had gotten away with telling Kairi what I was capable of and what Axel was making me do, then I would be in greater trouble.

His warm touch made me feel uneasy and uncomfortable. I wanted to push him off but I knew I couldn't. Shouldn't.

"Tell me, Namine, why would you go behind my back and do such things?"

"Well, why were you following me?" I knew better than to talk back. But I could not keep my tongue still.

"In case you'd do something like this," he told me in a calmly.

His unusual manner had me confused. He was _never_ this composed whenever I defied him (which is a terrible idea)

Or maybe I had it coming later. Yeah, that was probably it.

Tears dwelled in my eyes and he was quick to notice.

"Don't cry," he said as he bothered to wipe the tears from my eyes. Then he gently pushed my head on his shoulders.

I looked down, staring at the carpet.

"So, what where you planning on doing? Hmm? What were you going to tell her? Were you scheming something behind my back?" He kept his calm tone, but I wasn't sure how long he would use it.

I shook my head, "No…"

"Don't lie to me, Namine. C'mon. Just tell me." He sounded so playful.

"I wasn't going to do anything," I whispered in an almost inaudible voice. It was hard to talk for me.

He sighed. "You're going to have to keep your side of the bargain if you're going to get what you want."

I nodded my head.

"I didn't like what you did last night, taking matters into your own hands. You know that, right?" He pulled me closer towards him, his arms tightened around my waist.

I said nothing.

"So why are you doing it again?" I felt his hot breath against my neck.

"I didn't mean to, I---"

He cut me off, "This is your second warning."

"But I---"

"Just don't do it again." He slid me off gently onto the chair beside him and looked at me with aggravation in his eyes.

I nodded my head like I was supposed to. I knew that if I made one more mistake, he would be furious with me. I just have to be more careful.

He got up ready to leave, but before he left, he lifted my chin with his hand so that I looked into his emerald eyes and kissed me.

As soon as he was out of sight, I wiped my lips with the back of my hand.

---

**~*~Kairi~*~**

After leaving the library, I headed straight for the cafeteria. My throat was parched and I felt a foreign cold wash over me. My lip quivered and my legs felt like they were going to collapse if I did not sit down soon. It was not that I wanted to be rude to Namine, I just felt uneasy and a bit nauseous.

I ordered a hot chocolate from the counter and sat down in the less crowded part of the cafeteria. Hot steam kissed my clammy skin as I brought the cup close to my lips. There was no way that I was going to go back to bed. Not now. I was already so behind, I can't possibly fall even more behind.

But a few things pestered my mind. It dawned on me that after Namine asked me what I was majoring in, I could not remember. In fact, that was not the only thing. There were other things, like what happened last night and how I even got this sick to begin with. I couldn't remember what classes I had until I thought really, really hard about it.

"Mind if I accompany you?"

I looked up to see Roxas seating himself across from me. I didn't want him to be near me because I was still mad at him. But I just wasn't in the mood to argue.

"You look really sick, what happened?" he asked with concern.

He couldn't genuinely care about me. "Nothing, go away."

I took another sip of my drink and hoped that he'd listen. Of course he didn't, when did he ever?

"Shouldn't you be resting in bed?" he asked as I sneezed.

I shook my head, "No. And, don't you have something else to do?"

He smiled at me, "I'd rather keep you company."

Oh please. "Well I don't want it."

He slouched over, propping his head against his hand. "Oh c'mon. You're still not mad at me, are you?"

I thought that it was unfortunate that my subtle sarcasm was covered by my nasal voice. "Oh no, not at all."

"You can't stay mad at me forever, Kairi."

"Yes, I can."

"I told you that I wanted to help you, and well---"

"Yeah, you did tell me that. So how come you're still not doing anything?" I accused him angrily. "I know that perv is still stalking me, bound to show up anytime. If you had done something by now, maybe he'd stopped already."

He looked at me for a while before speaking. "I know. I will talk to him."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't think that talking to him will get anything resolved. Since when did Axel do things when people talked to him? I sighed sadly, I didn't think that he could help me even if he wanted to. Axel was still going to do what he wanted.

I placed my hot chocolate upon the table and looked at my distorted reflection and the foamy bubbles swirling around.

"What's wrong, you look sad," he asked quietly.

"Everything. Everything's wrong," I looked up at him to meet his eyes. "This is not how I wanted things to be for me. And it seems like nothing is going to stop him."

"I will do something, I---"

"No," I interrupted him. "You don't get it. He's not going to stop just because you tell him to."

"Maybe if I---"

"Just forget it." I grabbed my drink and got up, hoisting my bag over my shoulder and turned to leave. Then an idea came to me.

I turned around to see him getting up as well. "Maybe there is something you can do," I told him.

His eyes glimmered, "Sure, anything. What is it?"

"You can come to the police with me and testify against him. You know, like be my witness. Since you're friends and all, you must have his number and know where he lives, right?"

All his previous excitement vanished. "No, I can't do that."

"What? Why not?" I began to get angry again. How could he back out?

"Look, even if I wanted to go, you don't have any solid proof. So what good would it do?" He walked around the table and stood in front of me.

I had nothing to say. First, I was surprised that he refused to turn him in after telling me repeatedly that he was willing to help me out in any way. Second, he might be right about me not having any proof. I was back at square one.

Letting out another sigh, I turned around and began walking away from him. He called my names a few times, but I ignored him.

---

Going through the rest of my classes was pure hell. I couldn't keep awake half the time and my head felt like it was going to explode any moment. Maybe, maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Perhaps I should have just gone to bed…

I sat by myself in Chemistry today. It was great because I didn't have to deal with Axel. Too bad it wouldn't be like this everyday. I considered switching seats with someone else, but everyone seems to be happy with where they already are.

I coughed all the way back to my room. Rikku was not there and neither was Paine. My hand ran against the wall for the light switch, but it didn't work. Darkness continued to dwell in the room. The darkness seemed to grow even more when I shut the door behind me. I dragged myself to the bathroom, but the lights didn't turn on there either.

It didn't matter. I just wanted to go to sleep. My body was too tired and exhausted to change into something more comfortable. I plopped myself onto the bed and let out a long, tired sigh. My eyes closed as my head began to burn. A cold shiver ran through my body.

I crept underneath the covers, but the coldness still evaded my body. I felt slight heat emitting from an unknown source. I didn't mind since the heat was warm and comforting. The balminess grew stronger and stronger. In fact, it was to the point where it made me feel a bit uncomfortable. Drops of perspiration slithered down my forehead, traveling to my neck.

How I wished it were cooler. I forced myself to unbutton my blouse since that was the only thing I could manage. It was little better, but not too much. Thirst dominated my throat and my lips felt chapped. I wanted to get some water, but my body would not permit me to do so.

After a moment, the warmth vanished. It had gone just as fast as it came, leaving me cold and shivering.

I drifted to sleep in that miserable state, frustrated that I had exhausted my body to the point where doing mundane tasks was not possible.

A warm hand touched my bare midriff; a subtle, gentle touch. Soon, I felt the weight of someone else carefully hovering above me. His warm skin converging with mine. It felt so good, I wanted to wrap my arms around him and not let go. His lips benevolently began to kiss me starting at the base of my neck. He slowly made his way up onto the edge of my chin. Finally, his sentimental lips found mine.

He pushed his lips against mine with great force as he managed to slid his tongue into my mouth. He began to kiss me furiously as time went on. I kissed him back with no reluctance. I wanted to pulled him in closer to me, but my arms were still limp and sore.

I felt his hand slide down my body, towards my pants. That's when it dawned on me. What am I doing? And with _who? _It didn't take me long for me to put two and two together.

Who else could it be but that red headed freak? All the desire and passion I had slithered away, only to be replaced by rage and fury. I pushed him back as hard as I could with my arms, which was painful by the way. As soon as I felt his weight lifted off of me, I opened my eyes, ready to yell at him.

But my eyes were only to be greeted by darkness. No one was there. No one.

I…I couldn't believe it. Was it all just an illusion? Just wonderful, not only was I not safe in the real world, but even my own mind wasn't safe from him.

---

**~*~Namine~*~**

It was a lonely night as I pondered on the unsuccessful day I had. I sat alone on the bed, staring at the wall and dreamt about him. A sigh escaped my mouth. If only it was all easy. But no. Here I am in a dormitory room making hell for myself.

I lay on my bed, facing the wall and didn't have to see Axel coming in, smoking a cigarette as he seated himself on the bed across from mine. The springs in the bed creaked softly as filthy smoke tainted the room. Ugh. I hated the smell of cigarette smoke. It was so disgusting.

He let out a dramatic sigh, no doubt allowing another cloud of smoke to fill the void in the room.

"Can you do that outside?" I managed to say.

He ignored me, as usual. "I need you to do something for me."

Of course. And since when did he _not_ need something from me? "What is it?" Heh, not that I didn't' already know. Or sort of.

He said nothing at the moment. Instead the bed creaked when he got up from the bed. I felt his weight pull down on the mattress when he lay down beside me on my bed. He edged closer to me, placing his arm around me. I wanted so much for him to go back to the other side of the room, but it's evident that he was not going to go anywhere.

He pulled me in closer, resting his cheek against my pallid one. I kept quiet and still even though I wanted to push him away. But I knew better than to resist. Much, much better than that. In fact, it would be completely foolish to so.

It was quiet and calm in the room with my question still lingering in the air. I waited patiently to hear his answer as he cradled me, even though I did not want to know what was going on in his devious mind.

"Make Kairi forget me," he whispered into my ear in a soft voice.

My eyes widened a bit. I didn't think he'd want me to do something like _that_.

"But, what for?" I asked, matching his hushed, serene tone. "I thought that---"

"I'm not going to get anywhere if she sees me as a sex maniac." He paused for a moment, letting silence take his place.

I wanted to suppress from yelling at him. How come he didn't want to change before?

"I guess I could, but it's really hard to keep changing people's memories." It was such an intricate job. An it was dangerous too…but of course, he didn't care.

"Just do it, OK? And while you're at it, make her forget you too."

What other choice did I have? I had to. "All right," I whispered.

He said nothing, so I dared to ask him a question. "Why," I began, "do you want to change so suddenly?"

"It's hard to explain," he told me.

"So, you're basically going to pretend to be a good person in front of her?"

The whole scheme was sickening. Axel was no where near to being a "good" person. Only sex and drugs ran his life. And how could I forget all the horrible things he's done to me?

"Did you find out if she liked someone?" He asked with an edge of urgency masked into his voice.

"Yeah, some guy named Sora. He lived with her back at Destiny Island. I could tell how much they loved each other when I looked through her memories last night." And it was true. She loved him so much as he loved her as well.

"Did you make her forget about him?"

I sighed. It wasn't an easy thing to do. So many memories to sort through. "Yeah," I muttered. But the love that they shared was strong enough to ruin everything.

"It's so unfortunate of who we are," he told me.

He took my silence for disagreement. "No? You don't think so?"

"I don't think I am the same as you. And I don't think Roxas is either," I said in return.

"Silly girl. Always hanging onto fake hope and dreams." He let out a sigh of pity for me.

"You're wrong. I'm not like you. We may not have hearts, but I still have feelings," I stated clearly.

"Whatever makes you _happy_, Namine."

I didn't know if that was sarcasm or not, but I didn't like the way he said it. I refrained from saying anymore, afraid to push my luck.

He cradled me as an eerie silence filled the room. "Are you cold, Namine?"

Like he'd care.

Nevertheless, he held me tightly. I couldn't help but feel a sense of contentment. But his words dug into me. How he so carelessly reminded me of who we were.

I shifted my body, turning to him without breaking the hold he hand on me. I buried my face into his chest to hide my tears. I'm sure he sensed I was crying for he soothingly rubbed his hand on my back, trying to lull me. This familiar gesture only had me crying even more, as so many horrid memories flooded my mind.

But I wasn't just crying for what we were, no. I cried about all the appalling nights I had and the mess I got myself into. It just wasn't fair.

I had quieted down after what seemed like hours passed by. Just when I was so comfortable in his arms and was about to fall asleep, he nudged me to get up. I wanted to yell at him, that he couldn't make me go anywhere, but I had no choice.

He helped me get up and go to Kairi's room. My eyes were burdened with heaviness but I still had to go what I was told. He left me after unlocking the door with a key he somehow obtained (maybe he stole it?) I crept quietly towards Kairi's bed.

How I envied her for sleeping. It was so late at night, I wished that Axel would make me do this another time. And I didn't forget the numerous times he pestered me about erasing any memory of me as well when we walked (or rather, he dragged me) here.

I stared at her through the dark with cold eyes. Hurriedly, I placed my hand against her forehead, flickering through her recent memories. Some of them seemed a bit obscure, but I managed to see them.

But before I did what Axel ordered me to do, I wanted to see something else. I wondered if she liked Roxas or showed any signs of admiring him.

It didn't take me too long to see a memory of her struggling through water. Everything was foggy and unclear. But then, something - no, someone, helped her get out of the water. She held onto him for her life, scared and frightened.

The more I saw, the more angry I got.

I pulled my hand away and I lost sight of the memory. I gazed at the dark floor beneath me and perched my head upon my hand.

_C'mon Namine. It doesn't matter. You _know_ she doesn't care about him, so stop worrying about it_.

I sighed.

Problem was, even though she didn't like him, he still held deep adulation for her.

And that was going to be a big issue.

I looked at Kairi's sleeping, peaceful face again, or whatever I was able to see in the dark.

She didn't know how lucky she was.

-**End Chapter- **

I'm so sorry for the _late_ update. TT_TT I was sick and the stupid SAT stressed the hell out of me. So, did any of you take the SAT? Heh, I think I did all right X_ X

Anyhow, as you see, I have put Namine's point of view in the story. I think it gives a bit more insight about the plot and reveals her motives, but at the same time not relating everything. I hope that was all right. Please tell me what you think about Namine's POV being added into the story.

Primarily, it is Kairi's story, so majority of the story will be told in her POV XD No worries.

Hmm, so I wonder what happens now.

Btw, I am sorry about the previous chapter being a bit confusing. I'm hoping that later chapters will help tie everything in (i.e do you recall Namine mentioning at the beginning "In fact, I didn't really care what condition she was in since I got what I wanted last night. It all depends on her if she doesn't want me to use it against her…"? What could be that "something" that she is going to use against her? It could possibly be related to the previous chapter XD)

Anyhow, I really, really hoped you liked this chapter. Please tell me if anything was unclear or you are still uncertain about. My greatest worry at the moment the storyline being elusive ^^;;;;

So please leave a review because I'm so curious to know what you guys think of the story so far.

I'd like to thank each one of you for taking the time to read my story and even reviewing it XD I appreciate it so much, thank you :)

-SD


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter VIII _

"You look really tired, Kairi," Rikku told me as I took a bite of my apple. I nodded because I was too exhausted to speak. A throbbing headache dwelled in my mind.

The racket made by others surrounding us did not help either. I would have probably stayed in my dorm, but Payne was smoking. So inconsiderate that woman. It was just Rikku and I in the cafeteria.

Class would start soon and I was not in the mood. But I didn't want to get behind, so I dragged myself out of bed.

We finished eating in silence, though I was sure that Rikku wanted to talk to whole time. We bade our goodbyes and took our way to class.

I was not too elated to go to my math class, but what could I do? I sat in my seat and closed my eyes for a moment. Just for a brief moment.

My body eased a little as I felt myself slouch a little. Just a few moments rest won't kill anyone.

"Kairi," someone said, "Kairi?"

A felt a soft prodding nudge on my shoulder. Gradually, my eyes began to open. I sniffled a yawn as I looked up at the girl standing beside me.

The class was getting up and leaving.

"Oh!" I exclaimed after realizing that I slept through class.

Damn. I felt embarrassed after talking to the teacher. I borrowed the notes from the girl who kindly woke me up. I told her I would give them back to her soon.

I left for my next class with my face flushed. How stupid I was…

--

The next few classes weren't any better. I couldn't stay awake and it was hard to focus.

Afterwards, I decided to just skip the rest of my classes. It was too much for me to handle and I was overtaken by fatigue.

In my dorm room, Payne was not there and the cigarette smoke had died down. Only the faint smell of smoke was there so I opened the window before crawling into bed.

I was about to fall asleep when the cell phone on the side table rang loudly. I grumbled with annoyance. Certainly it was not my cell phone. My fingers reached over the side table and searched for the phone. Once I got hold of it, I looked at the caller ID to see who was calling.

_Roxas_, it said on the LCD screen.

Angry for disturbing me, I turned it off.

My eyes were dozing off when a few minutes later a faint knock on the door aroused me. I waited for a few seconds but the knocking persisted. It got a little louder each time.

_What the hell… _

I grumbled as I got out of bed to open the door since it seemed to be the only way to make the irritating sound stop.

I opened the door to see who it was.

"Hey," a boy with eerie spiky hair greeted me. "Is Rikku there?"

"No," I mumbled irately.

"Hmm, I called her cell phone but she didn't pick up," he told me.

Huh. "Yeah, I know," I said as my lips curled into a frown.

"Oh?" a glimmer of puzzlement past over him.

"You must be Roxas," I said, boring my eyes into his. "Well, you can come back later."

"Yeah. Um," he bit his lower lip a little. "Sorry for waking you up."

I'm sure it was apparent for my eyes began to turn red and watery.

"Uh-huh," I mumbled as I began to close the door without having to say goodbye.

"Oh, wait," he said quickly, pushing the door a little.

"What?" I sounded a little harsher than I wanted to. But you couldn't really blame me for his irritating behavior.

"I didn't catch your name," he prodded.

What the ?

"I'm Sleeping Beauty. Now leave me alone," I forcefully shut the door then quickly locked it.

The fool! To disturb me twice and then ask me for my name.

I went to bed again, with the covers over my ears and eyes, hoping to get some sleep.

--

It was uncomfortably cold and the air was bitter. My body felt like it was freezing over. Where was I? I didn't know because it was hard to tell. Everything was white. A blazing white. No windows, no doors.

I ran to a wall and touched the cold wall, trying to feel for something. Maybe a way out? I scrutinized the wall carefully to maybe catch an outline of a door. My nimble fingers were about to bleed because I pressed my fingers against the wall so hard. I was so desperate but I held back tears of defeat. There had to be a way to get out.

A loud noise came from behind me as I saw a dark shadow fall upon the wall in front of me. I looked back to see an outline of a tall figure.

In a dangerous playful voice, he said, "There you are."

I could feel his sly grin slither upon his face even though I could not see him clearly. In fact, things began to get blurry and I couldn't see well.

His footsteps echoed as he came towards me. I pressed my body against the wall as fear crept inside me. Who was he and what did he want with me?

Even as he came closer to me, I still had difficulty seeing his full face or his hair. It was as if it was permanently obscured and intended for me not to see his identity.

With swift movement, he snatched my arm forcefully and dragged me out with him. I had no other choice but to follow. It was a little hard to follow him because he went at a brisk pace. We walked through more white halls until he turned a corner into a bedroom.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked frighteningly.

He tossed me upon the bed and closed the door behind him.

I looked around for a quick second. It was quite different from the rest of the place. There were dark red and gold stripped wallpaper on the walls and dark wooded furniture in the room. The bed we lay on was a grand and comfortable bed with silk linen and all.

My attention turned to him once again as he walked towards me, taking off his shirt.

"Oh, ----," he said slowly. "You like to play games. Well, not anymore, ----."

What? In the dim light I could see his mouth move but when the certain word came, I could not hear it. It was still hard to see his face or hair because there seemed to be a black aura around him. All I could see was his black robe.

He came upon me before I could get off the bed and try to get away from him. The touch of his unnatural warm skin against mine felt odd.

I tried to push him off me, but it was hard to because he was too heavy. He pressed his body closer upon him as I grunted.

"Please, stop," I cried uselessly.

He persisted regardless of my pleas. His lips pressed against mine roughly as he forcefully placed his tongue in mine. Seeming to change his mind, he sat up straight, bringing me up with him. Harshly, he brought my dress over my head, leaving me completely exposed.

I looked down at my body and was surprised to see so many scars and dried blood scattered everywhere. Did he do this to me?

My body shivered even more but his warm body fixed that. He hastily unzipped his pants as I looked away. I was so frightened and confused. What was happening and why?

_Run_, said a feminine voice in my head.

And I listened to it.

I made a quick run for the door while he was still busy. I fumbled with the lock and my face distorted with pain.

"Hey!" he exclaimed angrily.

_No, turn it the other way, then move it down. _

Obediently, I did what the voice told me to do. Once I undid the lock, I slammed the door shut behind me. It was hard to tell where I was going because I didn't know the place well. Not only that, but I was completely naked. Never mind that, I was stripped of my dignity which is more painful. I tried to fight back tears because my view was being blurred.

With the back of my hand I wiped my wet cheeks. Oh, where to go? I did not risk a look back because I didn't want to know what was behind me. I turned down a corner and kept running looking for an escape.

_Look to your right. _

As I looked on the right side of the wall I saw an opening, or a doorway. I stopped at it and peered down in the abyss. The darkness made me uncomfortable.

_Don't waste time. Go ! _

I didn't matter to me where it went, as long as it was away from him. My fingers reached out into the dark and touched the side to find a railing. Once I got hold of it, I hastily made my way down the stairs. The farther I went down, the deeper I was submerged into the dark.

It felt like a long time by the time I got to the end. When I looked up, I saw a dim white light from where I had come from. I looked back in front of me. Nothing but dark, but once my eyes got adjusted I saw a shimmer of radiance. I wondered what it was, so I followed it.

My body was shivering almost uncontrollably. Thin traces of blood slid down my throat because of my clattering teeth. I sniffled a little because I was still in shock and disbelief. I hoped that he would not find me here, or at least I had enough time to hide from him.

The closer I got to the glimmer of light, I noticed it was another room, or rather a sunroom. I stood at the edge, peering in from the outside. My eyes rested on the serene view before me. Roses everywhere. I wanted to divulge myself in them. What made it more beautiful were the vivid rays of sunlight shining from the glass above.

I took a step inside the place with caution. Some of my troubles were temporarily forgotten when I dazed upon the many roses. Just on the other side was glistening creek. I went to it to wash my face. My knees indented the soft grass as I knelt down.

"Oh!" I exclaimed after looking at my distorted reflection in the water.

Though it was not too clear, I could make out some of the features that did not belong to me. Thought the eyes seemed the same, I looked paler and my hair was a light platinum shade. I reached to touch my hair and pulled a strand in front of my face to see it better. When did I have blond hair?

Still confused, I dipped my hands into the water, destroying the face looking back at me. The cool water felt good against my flushed face. I even took a sip from it because my throat seemed parched. My body seemed to feel better because of the warm air around me.

I sighed slowly, wondering what was going to happen. Hopefully, the man would not think of coming here.

"Hello," a voice said behind me.

I gasped as I turned around. "Don't come near me!" I screeched though I knew that my futile cries were useless.

As he came closer to me, I noticed that there was something different. He seemed to be a different person because he didn't have the black aurora obscuring his face. There was a calm presence about him. His hair was a light raspberry shade and he had sympathetic eyes.

"What's wrong, --- ?" he asked me.

Again, the word he spoke could not be heard by me. I didn't understand. What is it that I could not hear? His lips moved but the sound would not reach my ears.

He knelt beside me and looked into my eyes as he pulled me in to an embrace. The moment my face was buried in his chest, I began to sob heavily. Something in my heart told me to trust him.

"Oh, Marluxia," I said, though I was not sure how I knew his name. "He…tried to…" I could not finish my sentence.

He patted my head softly without saying a word as he lay his chin above my head. After a few minutes, I calmed down. I closed my eyes as he held me tighter. I just wanted to be home and away from this strange place.

I pulled away from him to look at his face. The light made his face shine and his hair glimmer. "Feeling better?" he asked me.

I nodded my head because he was here to comfort me. Even though this is my first time meeting him, I felt like I knew him all my life.

"I…I…" I stuttered stupidly. "I don't know where to go. How do I get out of here?"

His silence answered my question.

I edged closer to him, placing my hand on his shoulder with hurt eyes. "I'm stuck here?"

He reached over to his right side then showed me a rose he pulled out. "Let's not think of such things," he said softly, tucking the rose behind my right ear. "You are too pretty to be worrying."

"Worrying!" I exclaimed angrily. "H-how could you say that?"

I wanted to scream at him.

"---," he began, "I don't know why you are acting so strangely."

My eyes widened in disbelief. "I almost got raped and you tell me that I am acting strange! Can't you do something?"

He looked at me with saddened eyes. "We all know we can't do anything. --- can be quite aggressive. He gets what he wants."

It was frustrating me because I could not hear the names he was saying.

"Why can't I hear what you are saying?" I asked him with puzzlement.

"Hmm?" he raised a brow.

"When you say a certain name, I cannot hear it. Your lips move, but no sound." I tried to explain the best way I could.

"I don't know what you mean, ---," he said with the missing word.

"There!" I exclaimed. "It happened again. I can't…hear you…"

He looked at me in a funny way, but then an idea came to me.

"Can you write out the name?" I asked eagerly. "You can write it in the dirt."

"You want me to write your name?" he asked, still not understanding me.

I nodded. "Yeah, I want to see."

"Ok," he said taking his finger and inscribing the name in the dirt.

I leaned over and looked closely at the ground. To my disappointment, I could not read what he wrote. I would see him write out the full letter, but I was not able to see it. Only a few lines of the name were shown. Stumped, I sat back in defeat.

"How's that?" he asked me when he was done.

"I still can't see it. They look like lines to me. Not letters…" I thought of another way. "Oh, I know! Spell it out for me."

Marluxia gave me a confused look but did as I told him. Just as before, his lips moved but I was not able to hear anything.

"This is so frustrating," I muttered.

"You are acting so strange, ----, I don't know what is with you," he mentioned as he wiped the name from the dirt.

I let out a sigh. "Well, I just---"

The sound of heavy footsteps made me stop talking.

"That sounds like ---," Marluxia stated with annoyance.

"He's coming? He found me?" I almost went into hysterics.

"Quick, go in the water and hold your breath as long as you can so I can try to convince him you're not here," Marluxia told me hastily.

_Take a deep breathe, _the voice told me.

I did as I was told, taking a very deep breath before slowly submerging myself into the water completely. My eyes tried to adjust to underwater as I lowered myself to the ground. When I looked up, I saw the rose that Marluxia put on me float above me.

If the rose surfaces, that might rise suspicion. I reached out for it and held onto it dearly because it felt like it bore Marluxia's presence. The rose already collected a few air bubbles on the edge of the petals. Slowly, my hair danced above me but it was not long enough to be seen from above.

I lowered myself a little more just incase and dug my fingernails into the edge of the creek so that I would not float around. It was getting harder to hold my breath.

_Just a little longer. _

From underwater, I could hear muffled voices. One angry and the other calm. I could hear my heart pounding. Such a terrifying sound.

My head felt a little dizzy because I couldn't stay here for too long. The feeling in my arms became numb. The rose in my hand was almost slipping away.

I looked up at the glistening water with the light shining in rays. Please hurry, Marluxia, I thought to myself.

A moment more and my head felt heavy. It was almost as if I the life was being squeezed out from me, slowly. My head swayed to the side as my eye lids fluttered. I could not hold on any longer.

My view became black as I my mouth opened a little.

Just when I thought I was not going to make it, I felt someone reach out for me, getting a hold of my dangling arm. He pulled me out just in time as I felt like I was suffocating.

--

I gasped as my eyes jerked open. It was dark around and quiet. My hands felt around frantically to find myself sitting in my bed. I felt my face next. It was a bit sweaty.

Hurriedly, I reached over the side table and turned the light on.

Everything was OK. I was sitting in my dorm room, not some crazy asylum like place. It was just a nightmare.

My heart slowed down a little as I pulled the covers to the side and went to the bathroom to wash my face. Once I was in the bathroom, I looked hard at myself in the mirror. I had my auburn hair and when I lifted my shirt, I saw that my body bore no scars or marks.

"OK, calm down…," I told myself. It was all over.

But it all felt so real…

I closed my eyes tightly then opened them. I shook my head. "No, it's because I didn't get enough sleep in the last few says," I told myself.

To get my mind off things, I put my shoes on and went out to get a bite.

I went to the door and noticed it unlocked.

"Didn't I lock this?" I said aloud to myself as I tried to remember if I had.

Oh, never mind that. I just wanted to get out the room.

--

_~*~Namine's POV ~*~_

"Oh shit," I whispered as Kairi left the room. I got out from the closet and almost began pacing.

I had just come in to see what she was up to, and saw her sleeping. There she was asleep when I saw her tossing a bit.

Wanting to know what she was thinking of, I placed my hand on her forehead and took a look. To my surprise, she was living one of my horrid memories.

But how? I didn't understand…

My eyes widened when I realized that while erasing her memories last night, I might have gave her some of mine. I was probably thinking of the bad times I had with Axel and she got some of them.

"Damn it!" I exclaimed.

I noticed that Axel's face was obscured and that she could not hear our names. So that might protect us for awhile. I'm sure there is no way for her to get our names because I tampered with the memories. And I'm sure that she will not be able to see my face properly in any reflection she tries to look at.

As I left her room and locked the door behind with the key Axel made a copy of for me, I began to think of how to get those memories out of her mind.

I walked down the hall still contemplating. What if, I let the memories stay? To haunt her? To make her go through the shit I went through?

My memories will haunt her nights. I could live with that. And Axel wouldn't have anyway of finding out.

I'm sure Kairi is the only one who got those memories as I erased other people's memories who were associated with Kairi and Axel. I'm sure Roxas didn't remember anything either.

Oh well, Kairi. I guess you have to endure my pain too, I thought to myself with contempt.

**-End Chapter-**

um. really sorry for late late late late update X_X

thank you for the reviews, i appreciate them ~ i will reply soon hopefully ^^

I have not forgotten about this story, just that life is in way :p

hope everyone is allright.

and i hope this isnt confusing chapter.

to make summary, basically kairi is living namine's horrid memories since namine accidently gave them to her when she was erasing her memories of roxas axel etc etc.

so kairi doesnt remember the things that happened before, like axel trying to rape her and roxas and all that. she also forgot about sora since namine did that too XD

hmm. and the part where kairi went to sleep, she was living in a dream and it felt real because namine went through things like that.

and. i hope its not confusing ^^;;

anyhow, thank you for reading. i really appreciate it. and i wonder if you guys even remember what happened before in the story. dont blame u if u forget . its my fault for not updating.

well, tell me what you think~

thank you~

-SD


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter IV_

**Kairi's POV**

In the cafeteria, I saw Rikku with Payne and that Roxas guy sitting at a table. I approached them slowly, hoping that the remote look on my face had left.

"Hey guys," I managed to say cheerfully taking a seat next to Rikku.

"You're just on time," Rikku perked.

"Oh?" I questioned, folding my arms over each other. From the corner of my eye, I could see Roxas looking at me intently. I ignored his rude stare.

"We were planning on getting some ice cream," she informed me. "You want to come with us?"

"Um," I said thinking for a moment, "All right."

What the heck. It sounded like fun and I wanted to see Tokyo also. And maybe ice cream would get my mind off things.

The four of us headed out of the cafeteria and outside into the crisp evening. It was a little chilly, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. I just wanted to get away from here for a moment.

We stood at the bus stop, waiting for the bus to come. Rikku chattered with Payne who seemed not to pay the least attention. I didn't mind since I didn't want to talk too much anyhow.

"So, Sleeping Beauty," Roxas said from beside me.

I turned to look at him. "What?"

"Had a good sleep?" he asked genuinely.

How to answer this question? "Um, yeah something like that," I muttered under my breath as I looked at my old shoes.

"I apologize for waking you up," he began again.

"It's all right," I muttered under my breath.

The bus came and I was eager to get on. Rikku and Payne got on before me as a crowd of people rushed in front of me. When I got on the bus, I realized that I had left my purse in my room and I had no money on me. I fumbled through my pockets nevertheless.

"Here," Roxas said behind me, giving me spare change.

"Thanks," I said quietly, as I paid.

So embarrassing.

Rikku and Payne were sitting next to each other and there weren't many seats left. I took a seat a few rows down to my right. Roxas was close to follow.

I took the window seat and looked at the trees and the sky. Roxas said nothing for a moment, until the bus finally got moving.

"Have you seen the city?" he asked me, trying to make conversation.

I shook my head, still keeping my eyes on the darkening sky.

"You'll love the ice cream place we're going to. They have really good ice cream," he continued on.

"Oh," was all I said.

He kept quiet the rest of the ride finally getting the hint that I was not in the mood for talking. We got off when we reached the bus stop. Roxas and I had gotten off before Payne and Rikku so we waited for them.

From the bus stop, we walked to the ice cream place. I glanced around at the different ice cream flavors.

"Get the sea salt flavor," Roxas advised me. "It's really good."

Sea salt? Doesn't sound too sweet to me.

"If I had money," I told him. I was going to ask Rikku if I could borrow some, but Roxas was quick to offer.

"Don't worry about that," he said, "I will get it for you."

"Are you sure?" I asked, hoping not to seem like a money smooching person.

"Of course, it's no problem at all." With that, he got me the sea salt flavored ice cream although I was in the mood for strawberry.

He gave me the ice cream cone and I took it, thanking him. "I'll pay you back," I told him.

"It's ok," he informed me, "You don't have to."

The four of us walked through the busy streets as we licked our ice cream. The sea salt flavor didn't taste so bad, I actually liked it a lot.

"It's good isn't it?" he asked, as if he read my mind.

I nodded. "Yeah, it is. I didn't think so at first, but I like it."

"I'm glad," he said, flashing me a smile.

The city was so gorgeous, especially the lights and the very posh stores. We went into a few of them after finishing our ice cream. Some of the clothes I saw were really pretty, but I knew I could not afford them.

After a few hours of window shopping, we decided to head back. We waited for the bus at the bus stop. I wrapped my hands over my arms to keep warm because it got a little chilly. I should have brought a light sweater or something like that.

I looked around me for the last time before the bus came. Too bad we couldn't stay longer. Maybe next time I will remember to bring money with me.

My eyes passed over a girl and my gazed stopped right there. She looked at me keenly as I returned her gaze. She stood still by a lamppost on the street beside me. The more I looked at her, the more she seemed to look familiar. I studied her carefully.

Her crystal blue eyes and pale skin, along with that platinum hair placed on her right shoulder.

Could it be…?

"Kairi, get on the bus!" Rikku cried from the bus window as people were boarding on. "Hurry!"

I couldn't leave yet. I spotted Roxas teetering on the step of the bus and on the sidewalk as he watched me with an eerie look.

"Be right back," I said quickly, turning away from him with a confused look plastered on his face.

I focused on the girl who was now running away from me. Oh no! I couldn't let her out of my sight. And the fact that she was running made me more curious to find out who she was. I picked up my pace then broke into a run.

She ran quickly and skillfully through the throng of people as I struggled to avoid colliding with others.

"Wait!" I cried out trying to get her attention. I was certain that she was running away from me.

"Kairi!" Roxas' voice bellowed behind me. "Where the hell are you going?"

I didn't want to waste time looking back, in fear of losing the sight of the girl. I needed to talk to her.

"HEY!" I yelled aloud, hoping maybe she will stop, though I knew there wasn't a good chance of that happening.

She got ahead of me as I began panting for air. I couldn't stop, not yet. I forced myself to run faster, ignoring the pain surging in my legs that pleaded me to stop the chase.

I got excited as I got closer to her. Maybe there was a chance. But to my dismay, she turned a corner. I had to run faster so that I could still keep an eye on her. When I turned the corner, I could still see her. Good.

"I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!" I cried once more, just in case it would make her understand.

She turned down another corner but this time, she went down a dark alley. I was about to follow her, when someone grabbed hold of my shoulder and pulled my arm to a sudden stop.

I was panting heavily, with sweat dripping down from my forehead. I twirled around to see Roxas panting as well.

"What did you do that for!" I exclaimed, gasping for air. "I was…so…close…" My panting interrupted my sentence.

He still held onto my arm so that I could not flee. "Are you…crazy?" he said bewildered, also trying to get his breath again.

"Let me go!" I cried, trying to pry my wrist out from his grasp. "I need to talk to her!" I continued to struggle to get free.

"Who?" he asked puzzled as he gripped me harder, afraid to let me go in fear of me running again.

I didn't answer him right away because I was looking into the alley that I was about to run into. As each second passed, I knew that she must have already gone farther. It was probably too late to catch up with her now.

"Damn, she's probably gone…," I muttered under my breath.

He finally let go of me, trusting that I would not take off again.

"We missed the bus," he stated hardly.

"Yeah, so?" I said, "You didn't have to follow me!"

"Good thing I did!" he exclaimed, flinging his arms to the side. "You almost went in…there," he said, pointing his finger at the ally.

"So?"

He shook his head, "Something bad could have happened to you!"

My heart sank. "That girl went in there! What if something happened to her? We have to go in there then!"

"What girl?" he asked for another time. A bewildered look took over his eyes.

"Roxas, what if she is in trouble?" I almost ran into the alley, but Roxas got a hold of me again,

He sighed heavily. "We are going home," he grit through his teeth, dragging me along with him.

"Gosh, why are you so mad?" I asked when we were back into mainstream.

"Do you know what time it is? It's almost midnight. We should have been back by now. But you had to run off like that!"

He still held onto my arm.

"Whatever. You don't understand," I fought back, trying to wriggle my arm from him.

"No, I don't," he said coldly.

"Then why did you follow me if you are so hung up on how late it is!" I cried, finally managing to get my arm free from him.

Both of us stopped walking. He gave me a hard gaze. "How would you have gotten home?"

"Um…"

"Do you have money?"

"No…"

"A cell phone?"

"No…"

"And it's getting cold!" he stated, clearly for me to realize that I was wearing short sleeves.

"I know…"

"And it's getting late," he continued.

"Yeah…"

"There are guys out here looking for girls who-"

"Ok," I interrupted him, "I get your point."

It was silent between us as we returned to the bus stop. I took a seat on the wooden bench and Roxas took a seat beside me. He called someone on his cell phone.

"I told them not to worry us and that we'd be back soon," he informed me, putting his phone back in his pocket.

"All right," I said quietly, listening and watching a leaf scuttle down the road as the breeze picked up.

I sighed as I kicked the sidewalk, thinking about the girl who I saw in my nightmare. The girl who seemed to be the one who I saw when I looked at my reflection in the water.

Something in my heart told me that she was important because I didn't understand why else she would have ran away from me. Not only that, but why was she here? Was she watching me? Did she know something?

Or was I truly crazy? Was I making a big thing out of nothing?

I turned to Roxas who looked out in a daze. He's probably still mad at me for running off. Well, he didn't _have_ to follow me. No one _forced_ him to, so he shouldn't be mad…

But still…he had a point.

"I'm sorry," I apologized to him. "I probably should not have run off like that."

"Yeah," he sighed, not looking at me. "It's fine…"

Though I knew that it wasn't really fine. He seemed more tense and worried. I could see his lips set into a permanent line as his hands were balled into fists.

"We'll get back, don't worry," I tried to assure him, trying to ease the both of us.

"Yeah," he said again, looking at his watch. His brow furrowed just a little. "It's been half an hour."

"Ok?"

"The bus should have been here about fifteen minutes ago," he told me. "And I don't think that this is the same bus stop that we were supposed to go to."

"What do you mean?" I asked, not sure what he meant.

"I mean," he began, giving me a look. "After you ran off, we kinda got lost…"

"But we are at a bus stop?" I inquired. "So it shouldn't matter, right?"

"Yes, and no."

"Oh?"

"We are the only ones here waiting for the bus because it seems like we are in some shabby part of the city. So we will get home, but I hope nothing happens to us while we wait." He looked around him carefully, before looking at me.

"You worry too much," I said, trying to hide my fear. "The bus will come soon."

"Brave are you," he mentioned in a subtle sarcastic tone, shoving his hands into his pockets.

The air got chillier, and I wished I had worn something warmer.

"Perhaps," I retorted.

He rolled his eyes. "Or maybe it's just being stupid."

"Whatever," I snorted, leaning back into the bench. "Then why don't we just try to find out way back to the other bus stop?"

"And risk getting more lost? I don't even know which way to go…"

Maybe he was right. I looked around at the darkened shops that looked old with age and some even vandalized. They seemed depressed and rundown. The only light was the lamppost flickering above us.

"Do you hear that?" I asked timidly when I saw a mass of shadows and a clatter of voices. It seemed to be a gang of some sort.

"Hear what?" Roxas whispered, leaning in closer to me.

I strained my ears to listen again, but I didn't see or hear anything.

"Never mind, it's gone now," I whispered again.

I was beginning to worry now…

"I hope your imaginary friend is all right," Roxas said after a few moments of silence.

I grunted. "She wasn't imaginary!"

"Yeah, ok," he replied, unconvinced.

I nudged his arm slightly. "Seriously, why don't you believe me? You think I'm making this up?"

After looking at the angry look in my eyes, he said, "No, no, it's not that. It's just that, because of her, we are sitting in this mess."

I backed down a little. "I know. I said I'm sorry. I just really wanted to talk to her, but she ran away from me. So I chased her."

"Hmm," he mused.

"What hmm?" I asked confused.

He said nothing and I didn't say anything either. A few moments later he took out his cell phone and dialed a number. His voice was quiet so I wasn't able to pick up on some of the words he said. When he was done with the call, he said, "I don't know when the bus is coming, so I called my friend. He'll pick us up."

"Oh, sounds good," I said as I tried to keep my teeth from clattering. At least someone was coming to pick us up.

Though, it seemed like ages had gone by and the night seemed to grow darker. An eerie silence filled the night as we waited. I didn't like where we were and a small part of me wished that I had not acted on impulse and ran after the girl.

"You scared?" he asked, breaking my thoughts.

"No," I lied as I looked hard down at the dim pavement. But inside, I was really edgy and uncomfortable. And really cold because the cotton shirt I wore was not enough.

"That's good…"

"Yeah." Wish he'd stop talking.

It seemed as though he was about to say something but a sharp ray of light cut through the dark. I to my left to see a car approach us.

"He's here," Roxas said eagerly, getting up.

Roxas sat in the passengers seat while I sat in the back. It was as dark in the car as it was outside, but it was warm and the leather seats were really comfortable.

"This is Kairi," Roxas said to his friend as we drove off. He glanced back at me real quick before looking back at his friend.

"Hey Kairi," the driver said, though I couldn't get a good look at him. He sounded a bit tired.

"Hi…um?"

"Axel," he informed me of our driver's name as I put on my seat belt.

"Sorry you had to get stuck with him," Axel said half-jokingly as he made a turn. I leaned back into my seat and looked out the window not saying anything.

"It's not my fault!" Roxas was quick to answer. "She ran off somewhere and well, here we are."

"Yeah…" I sighed, wishing he'd drop it already.

The rest of the ride was silent. I gave a quick glance at Roxas who was leaning against the window with his chin resting upon his hand. I couldn't see Axel's face too well since I sat in the back of the car behind the driver's side.

When we reached the parking lot, I got out quickly, muttering a thanks to Axel as I tried to head back to the school.

"Kairi," Roxas called behind me.

"What?" I grumbled, looking back.

"Never mind…" he said, closing the door.

Then I noticed Axel locking the car after he shut his door also. I felt like I should have thanked him properly, but as I was trying to make up my mind, he was heading the opposite way. Roxas went with him, giving me a quick wave.

Maybe I should quickly catch up with him, I thought to myself.

But it seemed too late for Axel and Roxas disappeared into the dark.

I shoved my hands into my pocket as I turned around also. No worries, maybe I can see him again…I hope.

"You're back," Paine said in a monotone, uninterested tone as she looked at me from where she sat on her bed, laptop laid upon her lap.

What? No 'Are you ok?' or 'What happened?'

"Glad to hear your sincere concern," I mumbled half annoyed with her careless attitude. I fumbled to my bed and plopped my face upon the pillow. I sighed heavily into it.

"Had a good time?" she asked slyly.

"No, not really," I said, my words muffled into the pillow.

I tried hard to sleep, but I couldn't. My eyes stared at the bed above me which Rikku quietly slept upon. Paine, on the other hand, snored a little. At first I was a bit annoyed by the irritating sound, but I got accustomed to it. Besides, even if I told her, I didn't want to get risked getting hit or something…scary as she is.

It must have been around 2:30ish in the morning. I glanced at the clock to confirm this, then sighed. What to do…

Maybe if I kept myself busy, I would get tired. As quietly as I could, I moved the covered to the side and sat upright. Hmm, but what could I possibly do at this hour? As my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, I noticed a pile of Paine's clothes gathered in a corner.

That gave me an idea, I could do my laundry. Crazy, I know, to do laundry at this hour, but I was anxious to do something. I turned the small lamp on the nightstand and hoped not to disturb my roommates. When neither of them stirred, I cautiously proceeded to gather my clothes in a laundry bag. I shut the light off and checked if I had my key before I left the room.

The hallways seemed so barren and quiet, but that's what you should expect at this time of night anyhow. I took my time walking to the laundry room that was used by everyone that was located in the basement level.

I didn't expect anyone to be present in the laundry room, but to my surprise there was a man sitting on the bench as a few of the machines were running. He seemed to be reading the newspaper with his eyes intently reading.

I was about to turn around and go back to my room because I didn't feel too comfortable being in a room alone with this stranger but I took a good look at him. Oh! It was Axel. I should have recognized him sooner with that mess of red hair.

This could be the perfect time to thank him since I didn't really do so earlier. He seemed to be dressed in black pants and a loosely buttoned long sleeved shirt. I didn't see that he wore glasses earlier, but they were perched above his sleek nose as he intently read the newspaper. I felt a bit silly, being dressed in a white shirt and pajama pants along with my slippers.

Nevertheless, I walked in the cool room, wondering how to start conversation. He didn't bother to look up as I came in, standing in front of one of the many machines that were lined upon each other. I opened one of the washers and began putting my clothes in. I fumbled with the buttons before actually turning the darn thing on. My back was still facing him as I fiddled with the empty laundry bag.

I wondered how long the wash would take…

Turning around, I found him still reading the newspaper. Maybe I should say something first?

Yes..

"Um," I began, trying to figure out what to say, "Thank you for picking us up."

Axel looked up at me, seeming to notice me for the first time.

"Oh," he said, looking at me closely, as if trying to remember who I was, "It's no problem."

"So, what are you reading?" I asked stupidly.

"Newspaper," he answered, "But only because I left the book I was reading in my room. I just saw this lying around."

"Hmm."

"And what brings you here at this hour?" he asked, closing his newspaper.

"Oh," I gave a nervous laugh, "I couldn't sleep…so I thought I might as well just do something useful. And you?"

I was as curious as he was to know what he was here also at this time.

"Well," he said, taking his time answering, "I hate it when it gets crowded during day time. I like it when its empty."

"It's a bit too early, isn't it?"

"Yes, but, I come here sometimes even when I don't do laundry at around this time." He gave me a warm smile.

"Really?" I was surprised to hear this. "But…why?" I didn't see anything so special about a laundry room.

"I have insomnia sometimes. So, I like reading books or writing to kill time., I would read in my room, but Roxas hates it-"

I interrupted him. "Roxas?"

"He's my roommate," he explained calmly.

"Oh, right."

"He hates it when I do that so late because it bothers him, so I come here."

"What about the library?" I think it was opened all the time, even at this time.

"It's too quiet. I like it here because I can just turn on one of the machines, and its fine. I like a bit of noise in the background," he told me.

Wow, I never heard of something like that before. "You come here often?"

"Depends," he said. Then he let out a small sigh. "A bit…strange isn't it?"

I seated myself besides him on the bench, but left enough space between us so I didn't give him any wrong messages.

"No, no," I said, "I think that's…interesting." It seemed odd, but I was a bit charmed by this.

He gave a small laugh. "But books aren't just good for reading."

"Oh?" I asked, a bit confused by this statement.

"I mean," he said, smiling shyly, "They're great to prop windows open when they don't hold up too well. I even use them as doorstoppers, flattening out papers, or using them as a hard surface to write something."

I chuckled because it seemed a little absurd. "Oh, I see."

Even though I just met him today, I felt like he was a pleasant person to be around. I felt like I wanted to get to know him better.

"How come I haven't seen you around?" I asked, not recalling ever seeing him on campus.

"I think I am in one of your classes," he informed me, crossing his leg. "Chemistry."

"Hmm," I pondered over this for a moment. "I don't remember seeing you?"

"That's because I sit in the back, and sometimes, I don't show up," he confessed.

"Why not?"

"I don't know, I guess I get bored sometimes." he gave me a quick glance.

One of the machines stopped running. I assumed it was the one Axel started since the washer I loaded my clothes in was still on. He got up and walked to the dryer that his clothes were in. His back was to me as he took the clothes out and put them in a bag. He seemed to be in a hurry as he shoved the clothes into the bag.

I craned my neck a little to see around him, not that I was trying to be nosy, but it seemed a bit strange. In his hasty pace, he dropped one of the garments onto the floor without noticing at first. I glanced at the piece of clothing, which appeared to be a dress of some sort.

I looked away when he realized his error and grabbed the dress quickly. Was he embarrassed of washing women's clothing? I didn't know, but I did wonder whose clothes he was washing. Did he…have a girlfriend?

Before I could contemplate further, he turned around, looking calmly at me but with the bag clenched in his hand tightly. He smiled as I tried to look normal.

"Would you like me to stay for a bit longer?" he asked politely, noticing that I was still waiting for my clothes to be done in the washer.

_Yes. _

"You don't have to," I told him, not wanting to keep him from getting back to wherever.

"I don't mind, since it's so late," he came a bit closer to me.

_Yes, please stay. _

"No, really, it's ok," I placed a strand of my hair behind my ear.

I couldn't bring myself to ask him to stay. I kept telling him that he could go.

He glanced at his watch. "Alright," he said, "I will see you later."

My heart sank, but quickly shook the feeling because I knew I was being ridiculous. I just met him, so I don't know why I am acting so silly…wanting him to stay longer. I told myself it is because I wanted to just talk to someone.

He walked past me, but before leaving, he turned around. "Kairi," he asked, getting my attention as I looked at him. "Maybe we can have lunch tomorrow."

"Oh, ok," I said slowly, trying to mask the excitement in my voice. "When?"

"Around 11:30, or whenever you want," he said, placing a hand on the side of the door.

"That sounds fine," I told him.

He smiled and waved goodbye to me as he left.

I couldn't help but wear a big smile. But, wait, we didn't settle a place to meet…

Oh, no matter. I'm sure we can find each other. A faint ring sounded indicating that my clothes were done in the washer and ready to be placed in the dryer. I got up and busied myself as I thought about having lunch with him.

**Namine's POV**

I waited impatiently in an empty dorm room that I was able to stay in for the time being. I sat with one lamp on as I wrapped my arms around my arms. The doorknob turned as Axel entered into the room with my clothes. About time.

"What took you so long?" I asked from the bed I sat at as I glared at him.

"Nothing," he said, giving me a stupid smile as he tossed the bag to the side of the bed.

"You know," he started as he sat on the empty bed across from me, "I'm glad we argued and you made me do your laundry at this time."

We had argued about him washing my clothes, in which he finally gave in. "Why?" I asked suspiciously. "Did you do something to my clothes?" I was going to hurt him if he did.

"Calm down," he began, "Your clothes are fine."

"Well?" I asked, impatiently.

"I meet her," he smiled even wider.

"Oh…and, what happened?" I was curious to know what he did…

"Not much, we just talked a little."

"Like?" I opened the bag and began to sort them out and fold them, laying them all on the bed as he talked.

"It turns out that I like to read in the laundry room every time I can't sleep."

"Pfft," I made the sound with my lips. "What kind of stupid lie is that?"

I knew that after taking away Kairi's memory of everything that happened would mean that she wouldn't be able to remember Axel, which allowed him to "change" himself, as he says. More like become another person, a fake. His idea was to seem to be the studious type to impress Kairi, or to at least get to know him more.

Such a stupid thing to do. I don't understand why he couldn't have lied and pretended to be kind and all that in the beginning.

"I think she digs it," he said happily.

I rolled my eyes. That's so stupid. "I don't know how long you can keep this façade going on."

"And wearing glasses doesn't make you look smarter also," I muttered because I thought wearing glasses was a dumb accessory for him to wear as well.

"Maybe…"

I smelled the smoke that came from his cigarette that he just lit. He got up from the bed, as he headed towards the door.

"See you later," he bade as he shut the door behind him.

It was a good that he wasn't in a bad mood because I had feared that he would have somehow figured out that I was the reason why Kairi was separated from her friends, and why he had to pick her and Roxas up. If he knew that I had accidentally transferred some of my memories to Kairi, he would do something horrible to me. Especially since the memories that she has would give away his true nature.

I almost shuddered at the thought of him finding out, but I don't think I would have to worry about it. As long as I don't let Kairi see me, then she might not try to make connections. Or I hope.

But it still irked me that Roxas and Kairi were alone together after I managed to escape from her…

Whatever.

I shook the thought from my head and kept myself occupied with folding the rest of my clothes.

It's OK, I told myself, I'm sure Roxas will be mine soon…

_End Chapter_

AFter long time update

sry ^^:;

hope u like? and that i didnt kill the fic

well thanks so much for reading ~~

-SD


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